North Carolina State University Athletics
Volleyball Hits Tobacco Road This Weekend
10/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 28, 2004
After a three-match home stand, the NC State volleyball team hits the road this weekend for two Atlantic Coast Conference matches. The Wolfpack will face Wake Forest on Friday night and then Duke on Saturday night. Both matches are set to begin at 7 p.m.
Still in search for its first conference win of the season, NC State (10-14, 0-10 ACC) is led by senior outside hitter Melanie Rowe and junior middle blocker Adeola Kosoko offensively. Rowe features a team-best 268 kills while Kosoko is closely behind with 265 kills of her own off a team-leading .302 hitting percentage.
Junior middle blocker Stefani Eddins enters the weekend with 140 total blocks, 10 away from tying the school record (150) for the most blocks in a single season. Also on the defensive side of the net, freshman libero Andrea Bentley will look to add to her total of 258 digs on the season. Freshman setter Lauren Markowski has helped anchor the offense with 836 assists thus far.
Wake Forest (9-12, 1-9) has also struggled this season in conference play, gaining their only win, a 3-2 thriller at Maryland last week. Senior middle blocker Kim Stern and junior outside hitter Valerie Rydberg lead the Demon Deacons with 277 and 251 kills respectively, while junior setter Erin Borhart has dished out 814 assists. Rydberg is also the team's leader in digs with 265, and senior middle blocker Morgan Havig enters the weekend with a team-best 96 total blocks for the Deacs.
Despite coming off of two losses, the Blue Devils enter weekend play at 15-7 overall, 6-5 in the ACC. Freshman middle blocker Carrie DeMange is the team's leader in kills with 306 off a .327 hitting percentage. Two other players, sophomore outside hitter Tealle Hunkus and senior outside hitter Tassy Rufai have also been big offensively, recording 226 and 224 kills respectively. Freshman setter Ali Hausfeld will look to add to her already impressive assist total of 1018, an average of 13.05 assists per game. DeMange also leads Duke in total blocks with 77, while senior setter and defensive specialist Stephanie Istvan has already totaled 430 digs on the season.
