North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Set For Coastal Carolina Classic This Weekend
9/16/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 16, 2004
Once again, the NC State volleyball team will hit the road as it travels to Conway, South Carolina to participate in the Coastal Carolina Classic, its final tournament of the season. The Wolfpack (8-1), which has won six straight matches and is off to its best start since 1982, will open the weekend against Long Island at 4:30 p.m. Friday afternoon. Then on Saturday, NC State will face host Coastal Carolina at 11:30 a.m., followed by a 4:30 p.m. match against Tennessee-Chattanooga.
The Pack continues to be strong defensively, as it brings with it into the weekend a 108-33 advantage in total team blocks. Overall, six players on NC State's roster have double-digits in total blocks, led by junior middle blockers Stefani Eddins and Adeola Kosoko. Eddins leads the team with 51 total blocks and is tied for 29th in the nation with an average of 1.57 blocks per game. Joining her, Kosoko has also made a name for herself at the net, with 45 total blocks thus far, the second most on the team.
On the offensive side of the net, senior outside hitter Melanie Rowe has come up big for the Wolfpack, leading the team with 114 kills off a .267 attack percentage. Kosoko and freshman outside hitter Emily Bertrand have also been key weapons for NC State, each tallying 108 kills. Setter Lauren Markowski has dished out 357 assists thus far and picked up a career-high 18 digs in the Pack's 3-1 victory over East Carolina Tuesday night.
The Blackbirds of Long Island are recently coming off a 3-0 sweep of Holy Cross and are 6-2 overall. Leading LIU offensively are senior middle blocker Cristina Pintilie and sophomore outside hitter Dana Demayo, each of who have 101 kills to their accounts thus far. Defensively, the combination of junior outside hitter Melanie Fleig and freshman middle blocker Raven Nolan has teamed up for 47 total blocks for the Blackbirds.
As for Coastal Carolina, they will be on the hunt to get back to their winning ways after coming up on the short end of a 3-0 loss to College of Charleston Tuesday night. Overall, the Chanticleers are 4-3 and are led by junior outside hitter Katherine Jensen's 102 kills offensively. Jensen also is the team's leader in digs with 84, while three middle blockers: sophomore Laura Obert (25), sophomore Ashley Schieble (25) and junior Krista Kimble (22) each have over 20 total blocks on the season. As a team, Coastal Carolina sports a .201 hitting percentage and has tallied 54 total blocks.
Finally, the Mocs (0-6) will be looking for their first win of the season at the Coastal Carolina Classic. Junior right side hitters Kelly Ramsay and Lindsey Galloway lead UTC on the offensive side of the net. Ramsay is hitting .257, while Galloway is averaging 3.14 kills per game. Senior libero Dominique Mayor is among the Southern Conference leaders in digs, averaging 4.95 digs per game. Meanwhile, sophomore middle blocker Liz Inskeep is averaging 1.00 blocks per game, which is also in the SoCon top 10.
