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NC State Volleyball Rallies for Five-Set Win Against Arkansas

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ATLANTA – Fueled by a season-high 12 team blocks, the NC State volleyball team rallied to earn a five-set (3-2: 19-25, 25-22, 17-25, 25-20, 15-13) victory against the Arkansas Razorbacks in the ACC-SEC Challenge Friday afternoon inside O’Keefe Gym. After trailing 2-1 in the match, the Wolfpack battled to force a fifth set and emerged victorious in the decisive frame.

NC State earns its third five-set win of the season, while Arkansas was denied its first five-set victory of the year. The Wolfpack’s win also snapped the Razorbacks three-match win streak.

Third-year Wolfpack head coach Linda Hampton-Keith led her team to victory in a matchup that pitted her against her former head coach Jason Watson, whom she served as an assistant coach for five seasons at Arizona State prior to taking over the program at NC State.

The Pack moves to 6-3 on the year, while the Razorbacks fall to 6-3.

Worth Noting

– Friday’s matchup was the third meeting between the programs, as NC State now leads the all-time series 2-1.

– The Wolfpack’s 12 blocks in the contest are the most this season, eclipsing the previous high of nine accomplished three times.

– NC State is undefeated on the year at 5-0 when recording a higher attacking percentage than its opponent (.231-.181).

Quoting Hampton-Keith

Overall thoughts…

“I’m really proud of our team and how we played today,” said Hampton-Keith. “We knew we would have to play clean and so I’m proud of how we were able to ride the wave of a five-set match, stay focused and execute down the stretch. We worked all week on certain things to prepare for this weekend, so it’s a joy as a coach when you see the work your staff has put in come to fruition on the court.”

On playing against former head coach Jason Watson…

“We of course talked before the match and said this was awesome, but also kind of sucked because we knew there would be an outcome one of us didn’t like. I think when you have the tremendous amount of respect as we do for each other it can bring some mixed emotions. It was a fun and exciting match to be a part of.”

Match Rewind

– Arkansas opened the match strong, as the Razorbacks raced out to a 5-0 lead in the first set.

– NC State battled to narrow the deficit to 11-9 after a kill from Keira Moore and rallied again to cut the Arkansas lead to 21-18 thanks to a service ace from Makenzie Kuchmaner to force a timeout.

– Unfortunately, the Razorbacks countered to win four of the next five rallies to take a 1-0 lead in the match with the 25-19 first-set victory.

– NC State evened the match at one set apiece with a 25-22 win in the second set after tallying a .455 team attacking percentage with 16 kills in the frame.

– The Pack jumped out to an 11-6 lead in the set after a kill from Teni Sopitan to force an Arkansas timeout.

– The Razorbacks rallied to narrow the NC State lead to 22-20, but the Wolfpack held on for the set win to even the match.

– There were no lead changes or ties in the first two sets, as both teams led from start to finish.

– Arkansas put together a strong third set to take a 2-1 lead in the match, as the Razorbacks grabbed control of the frame with a 9-1 run en route to the 25-17 set win.

– In the fourth set, NC State raced out to a 6-1 lead following a solo block from Moore and never looked back.

– The Wolfpack struck first in the fifth set and did not relinquish the lead although there were five ties.

– After Arkansas knotted the set at 10-10, Sopitan delivered a kill for the Wolfpack to put the squad ahead by one and after a kill by the Razorbacks and then a service error, another kill from Sopitan followed to push the advantage to 13-11.

– Melissa Evans gave the Wolfpack match point with a kill from the pin and an attacking error by Arkansas gave NC State the 15-13 fifth-set win and 3-2 victory in the match.

Top Performers

– Sopitan led all players in the match with 17 kills and also recorded a .286 attacking percentage.

– Evans tallied 13 kills, while Moore put down 11 to go along with a .444 attacking percentage.

– Lauryn Terry logged nine kills on 14 swings and did not commit an error to chart a .643 attacking percentage.

– At setter, Kylie Pickrell handed out a match-high 52 assists and collected nine digs to finish one shy of a double-double.

– Defensively, Kuchmaner led the way with 20 digs and defensive specialist Grace Irvin pitched in with eight.

– Terry also registered seven blocks to lead all players in the contest.

Up Next

NC State returns to action Saturday afternoon when the Wolfpack takes on Georgia, a team receiving votes for the top-25 polls. First serve is slated for 1 p.m. inside O’Keefe Gym.

 

 

 

 

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NC State Falls Out of the Top-10 After Losses to UNC & Duke

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After losing to rivals UNC and Duke last week, the NC State Women’s Basketball team fell out of the Top-10 in the Week 17 AP Poll, landing at #12. NC State started the 2023-24 season unranked, but jumped to #14 in the first Poll after the Preseason Poll. The Wolfpack have been ranked in the Top-10 since November 20th, which equals 14 straight polls.

ACC Teams in the Top-25

5. Virginia Tech
12. NC State
17. Notre Dame
19. Syracuse
22. Louisville
27. Duke
29. UNC
30. FSU

The Wolfpack will host #19 Syracuse on Thursday night at 7pm.

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NC State’s Week 1 Depth Chart Against UCONN (with Notes)

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NC State will kick off their 2023 Football season next Thursday night against UCONN at 7:30pm. The Wolfpack released their Depth Chart for the game today.

Image

Notes

  • Redshirt Sophomore Anthony Carter Jr. is listed as the starting Left Guard. If Redshirt Sophomore Lyndon Cooper wasn’t missing the first game due to injury, I wonder if Carter would be starting. Doeren did praise Carter in his press conference today. Also, he stated that Cooper should be back for the Notre Dame game.
  • Noticeably, Graduate Transfer Offensive Lineman Dawson Jaramillo is also missing from the Depth Chart. Unfortunately, Jaramillo has suffered an injury, and will miss the entirety of the 2023 season. This is a huge blow for Jaramillo, and a huge blow for the depth of the Wolfpack Offensive Line. Jaramillo was a Swiss Army knife, having the ability to play in numerous positions.
  • Very often, Doeren has stated that the “Or” in between two names means that the coaching staff sees both players as starters. There is an “Or” in between Chris Toudle and Trent Pennix at Tight End, with the former being listed first. Maybe it doesn’t matter whose name is listed first, but I’m shocked Pennix’s name wasn’t the one at the top.
  • I’m not shocked that Julian Gray and Keyon Lesane are listed as the starters at the X and Y Wide Receiver positions. They both have had a lot of buzz surrounding them in Fall Camp, and Lesane was named a captain. Obviously, with Gray’s speed, Offensive Coordinator Robert Anae is going to want to find a way to get the ball in his hands. With that being said, and this is no disrespect to the two of them, but both of them are 5’11”, which isn’t exactly the way you would sculpt your prototypical outside receivers. I expect Terrell Timmons and Bradley Rozner to both be heavily in rotation at the X and Y, to give the outside receivers a good dose of speed as well as height.
  • True Freshman Running Back Kendrick Raphael might be buried at the bottom of the Depth Chart at his position, but I bet he sees a carry before Mimms or Jones. Doeren mentioned that we would see Raphael against UCONN, but didn’t mention Jones or Mimms. Anae likes to run 2 Running Back sets, with one of them almost functioning like a Full Back. As a result, I’m not shocked to see Jones and Mimms where they are in the Depth Chart.
  • Props to True Freshman Kevin Concepcion for earning the starting job at the Inside Wide Receiver position. Get ready to hear his name a lot this year. KC is backed up by Redshirt Sophomore Jalen Coit, who Doeren spoke highly of today.
  • Junior Porter Rooks is no longer sitting behind Thayer Thomas on the Depth Chart. Doeren said that Rooks has had a great camp. The former 4-Star prospect has an opportunity to show that those stars meant something by his name. With that being said, he will be pushed by True Freshman Javonte “Juice” Vereen, who even has national media buzzing about him heading into the season.
  • Three True Freshman are on the Offensive Depth Chart: Left Guard Kamen Smith, IWR Kevin Concepcion and FLEXY Juice Vereen.
  • True Freshman Kamal Bonner is 2nd on the Depth Chart at the Will Linebacker spot, backing up Payton Wilson. What’s noteworthy, is that he’s ahead of former 4-Star prospect Jordan Poole in the Depth Chart. Bonner must have made a heck of a first impression.
  • As expected, ODU Graduate Transfer Robert Kennedy is starting at Nickel.
  • True Freshman Brandon Cisse is backing up Aydan White at Right Corner, and Doeren said we should expect him to contribute.
  • Redshirt Sophomore Jalen Coit will be filling in the shoes of Thayer Thomas at Punt Returner.

 

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Elliot Avent is interviewed on MLB Network about rule changes and Wolfpack Alums

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Elliot Avent gave a great interview on MLB Network.

Avent talks about the rules changes in baseball and doesn’t seem too pleaseed about them, while also breaking some news that they might be naming the hitting facility after Trea Turner and the Pitching lab after Carlos Rodon.

Give it a watch.

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NC State Basketball

Mady Traore Will No Longer Enroll at NC State

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This unfortunately seemed inevitable.

According to 247Sports’ Travis Branham, 3-Star Mady Traore is no longer planning on enrolling at NC State.

Traore was a member of the Wolfpack’s 2022 recruiting class, but wasn’t able to enroll in the Fall because of Visa issues and the English Competency Test.

Back on November 29th, I posted the following article, saying that Traore was set to join the team for the 2nd semester. Traore himself told me when I posted it, that he was expecting to join the team in December.

I received the intel 2 weeks prior to posting, and prior to things beginning to brew between NC State and Isaiah Miranda. In hindsight, I wish I would have posted it when I got the intel (haha).

4-Star Mady Traore Expected to Suit up for NC State Soon

Obviously, that didn’t happen, and isn’t happening.

When I posted the article, things were in flux, because there was one scholarship available. If Miranda came, he was going to get the scholarship, and the staff was hoping Traore would be willing to wait and enroll in April. If Miranda didn’t come, then the expectation was for Traore to join the team in December, in the way that Miranda just did.

I still believe my source’s info was solid, and there are always a lot of moving pieces in play that can change scenarios quickly.

From what I hear, the staff was genuinely hopeful they could add Miranda in December, and Traore in April, but it didn’t work out that way, and that’s the way it goes sometimes.

We wish you the best Mady! You’ve got a special future in basketball.

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