North Carolina State University Athletics
PEELER: Shedding Some Light On Big Weekend
2/22/2010 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH, N.C. – Sunshine, maybe that's the key.
The Triangle area had its best weather in months from Friday through Sunday, with sunny skies and the warmest temperatures of 2010.NC State's athletics also had its best weekend of the year, going practically undefeated in a variety of sports, both here and on the road.
It began Friday night, when the Wolfpack women beat Boston College, in front of a good sized crowd at Reynolds Coliseum for Pack the House night. Coach Kellie Harper's team led most of the game, and sent at least one opposing parent - newly elected Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, who came from Boston to see his daughter Ayla play for the Eagles- home less than happy with the evening's outcome.
Elliott Avent's baseball team opened its season with a record-breaking 32-3 whipping of LaSalle at Doak Field at Dail Park. In fact, the Wolfpack swept three consecutive games from the Explorers, who came down from Philadelphia without having practiced outdoors so far this spring. The Wolfpack finished with the most productive weekend in school history, scoring 65 runs in three games.
Saturday afternoon, the men's basketball victory over No. 23 Wake Forest – the third win this season over a ranked ACC opponent – was the highlight an afternoon-long celebration. Not only did Wolfpack legend and all-time leading scorer Rodney Monroe return to campus for his first game ever at the RBC Center, three other legendary figures from NC State basketball were recognized as part of the school's celebration of 100 years of basketball.
Lou Pucillo, who was the 1959 ACC Player and ACC Athlete of the Year, joined Todd Fuller, who led the ACC in scoring and rebounding as a senior in 1996, were both honored at halftime of the game. And Nick Valvano and Nicole Valvano Donahue represented the family of late Wolfpack coach Jim Valvano during a moment of recognition during the second half.
But there were more big names from NC State's basketball heritage. David Thompson and Tommy Burleson were behind the bench. Their teammate, Phil Spence, was not far away. And, right behind Sidney Lowe and Pete Strickland was another product of Washington's DeMatha Catholic High School, Charles "Hawkeye" Whitney, who hadn't been to a game since Lowe's inaugural season.
During the first half of the game, Chancellor-elect Randy Woodson and his wife Susan were introduced to the crowd at the RBC Center and were presented with their own monogrammed basketball jerseys.
We talked about sending him back to Purdue with some homework so he could study up on the history of athletics at NC State, but it's probably best to let him get more familiar with the academic side of the university for right now. He'll be back in March, and he'll have a box full of fun reading material to take home with him then.
Over in Chapel Hill Saturday afternoon, freshman Hannah Hopkins continued her excellent debut at the ACC Swimming and Diving Championship, winning her second All-ACC award and winning the platform diving title. Kirstyn Shepler also won All-ACC honors in platform diving and four teammates set school records as the Wolfpack finished seventh in the meet.
Saturday night, in a three-team meet at Reynolds Coliseum, the Wolfpack gymnastics team toppled No. 10 Nebraska and North Carolina in the Sweetheart Invitational. Nearly 4,000 fans saw head coach Mark Stevenson and his team defeat its highest ranked opponent in the program's 30 years.
Sunday, sophomore Bonae Holston and freshman Marissa Kastanek led a well-rounded attack as the Wolfpack women's basketball team went to Chapel Hill to beat the Tar Heels. It's a good sign for first-year coach Harper that her youngest players are stepping up to help win the biggest games.
Softball picked up three wins in three days at the La Quinta Invitational in Tampa, Fla., including a 4-0 shutout of Michigan State Sunday morning. Men's tennis also swept Elon, 7-0, Friday afternoon at the Isenhour Tennis Complex.
On Monday, both Kastanek and baseball senior infielder Dallas Poulk were named ACC Players of the Week in their respective sports.
It was the best overall weekend in NC State athletics in quite a while, overshadowed only by the Saturday night last March when wrestler Darrion Caldwell and platform diver Kristin Davies both won individual NCAA titles within an hour of each other.
Maybe the men's golf team, featuring the Wolfpack's other 2009 individual NCAA champion Matt Hill, can kick off another good week as it plays in its first tournament of the spring Monday and Tuesday in Avondale, La.
Return to GoPack.com for full tournament results.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
