North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Volleyball Faces Hokies Saturday Night
10/8/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 8, 2004
Still in search of their first Atlantic Coast Conference victory of the 2004 season, the NC State volleyball team will welcome new conference member Virginia Tech to Reynolds Coliseum Saturday night for a 7 p.m. match.
The Wolfpack (10-8, 0-5 ACC) is recently coming off a 3-0 loss to rival North Carolina Tuesday. In that match, NC State's defense came out firing on all cylinders, as it racked up 13 total team blocks, led by junior middle blocker Stefani Eddins. Eddins, who leads the ACC in blocks per game average (1.54), finished with 12 total blocks against the Tar Heels, tying her for the most number of total blocks in an ACC match in school history. Her 12 blocks were also good to tie for second for the most blocks in a single regular-season match in NC State history.
Overall, Eddins enters Saturday's match-up with 109 total blocks to her account, 41 away from tying the single-season record at NC State, which former Wolfpack star Diane Ross currently holds with 150 blocks during the 1984 season.
Offensively, the Pack has two players with over 200 kills thus far in junior middle blocker Adeola Kosoko and senior outside hitter Melanie Rowe. Kosoko leads the team with 212 kills off of a .331 attack percentage, while Rowe follows closely behind with 205. Kosoko is also on schedule to reach over 100 total blocks on the year, as she currently has 80. Freshman libero Andrea Bentley leads the team in digs (196), and Rowe ranks second with 123. Freshman setter Lauren Markowski has dished out 656 assists thus far. For Markowski, Saturday's match will be a little different than the others, as her sister, Melissa, is a junior setter for the Hokies.
Virginia Tech enters the match at 8-7, 3-1 in ACC play after coming off a 3-0 loss to Georgia Tech. Senior outside hitter Annie Spicer and sophomore middle hitter Katie Esbrook lead the Hokies in kills with 189 and 171 respectively. Esbrook is also the team's leader in total blocks with 45, while fellow junior middle hitter Liz Kapp adds another 40 for Virginia Tech. Freshman libero Amanda Cloyd features a team-best 224 digs, and Markowski, who ranks third all-time in career assists (3,248) for the Hokies, has 630 assists thus far.
The Wolfpack is 8-2 overall against the Hokies, with their last meeting coming in the 2003 season. Then, during the last match of the Outback Wolfpack Classic in Reynolds Coliseum, NC State defeated Virginia Tech, 3-2, to clinch second-place in the tournament. Current senior middle blocker Sarah Ensminger had 10 kills off a .400 attack percentage for the Pack against the Hokies.
