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NC State Volleyball Concludes Non-Conference Slate with Loss to Georgia

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6 years ago

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ATLANTA – Despite receiving a match-high 16 kills from senior outside hitter Teni Sopitan, the NC State volleyball team fell in straight sets against Georgia, 3-0 (26-24, 25-22, 25-21), in the ACC-SEC Challenge Saturday afternoon inside O’Keefe Gym to wrap-up its non-conference slate.

The Bulldogs own a 9-2 record on the year and are receiving 22 votes in this week’s American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Poll, just three spots shy of the top 25 at No. 28. NC State heads into ACC play with a 6-4 overall record.

Georgia had a slight 47-46 edge in kills for the match, but the Wolfpack committed 18 attacking errors to just nine for the Bulldogs as each set was determined by less than five points. NC State had a tough time slowing down the powerful Georgia offense, as reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Week T’ara Ceasar put down 15 kills and the Bulldogs recorded a .328 team attacking percentage.

Quoting Hampton-Keith
Overall thoughts…
“The frustrating part about today was that we didn’t necessarily play poorly, we just didn’t execute one phase of the game well enough to win,” said head coach Linda Hampton-Keith. “We acknowledged that our passing wasn’t at a level that allowed us to get our offense rolling the way we wanted to. We played the game well in transition, but we didn’t win the serve / serve receive battle. We’ll get back to work and prepare for conference this week.

“Our highest priority and of the utmost importance, we continue to deal with how we plan to get our student-athletes and staff back to Raleigh safely and how to help our North Carolina community in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence. That takes precedence over anything that took place on the court this weekend.”

Match Rewind
– The first set was tightly contested featuring 12 ties and five lead changes before Georgia earned the two-point win down the stretch.
– After the Bulldogs pulled ahead 22-21, the Wolfpack countered with back-to-back points to take a 23-22 following a service ace from Grace Irvin.
– With the score knotted at 24-24, a pair of costly attacking errors ensued for NC State as Georgia won the opening set, 26-24.
– NC State started strong in the second set, taking a 12-8 lead after consecutive kills from Kylie Pickrell to force a timeout by the Bulldogs.
– The Wolfpack later extended the advantage to 15-10 before a furious comeback by the Bulldogs to grab a 17-15 advantage.
– NCSU battled to narrow the deficit to 23-22 thanks to a kill from Sopitan, but UGA closed out the set with a kill and a block to go up 2-0 in the match.
– The third set was neck-and-neck, as neither team led by more than two points until Georgia took a 21-18 lead after a 3-1 run.
– The Wolfpack had a tough time slowing down the Georgia attack, as the Bulldogs won the frame, 25-21, and the match 3-0.

Top Performers
– In addition to Sopitan’s 16 kills, Lauryn Terry put down nine kills and Melissa Evans contributed eight.
– Pickrell collected 37 assists in addition to six digs, five kills and two blocks.
– Defensively, senior libero Makenzie Kuchmaner logged 15 digs and freshman Jade Parchment tallied eight.

Up Next
NC State will open ACC play in its next action, as the Wolfpack will host Louisville on Sept. 21. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. inside Reynolds Coliseum.

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

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2 months ago

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February 26, 2024

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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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8 months ago

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August 25, 2023

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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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1 year ago

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March 10, 2023

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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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1 year ago

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December 15, 2022

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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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