North Carolina State University Athletics
Volleyball Puts Win Streak On Line in ACC Play
9/23/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 23, 2011
NC State (12-1 overall,0-0 ACC) at Boston College (4-8, 0-1)
Time: 7 p.m., Friday
Place: Power Gym, Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Gametracker
NC State at Maryland (7-6, 1-0)
Time: 2 p.m., Sunday
Place: Comcast Center, College Park, Md.
Gametracker
RALEIGH, N.C. - Second-year NC State volleyball coach Bryan Bunn hasn't counted up the number of consecutive wins his team has recorded this season, though others have mentioned to him that the 12 straight his team has won equals the school record.
But he considers his team's current winning streak as a past accomplishment.
"We don't want to look backwards," said Bunn. "We are looking forward, and that means preparing for ACC play.
"We don't talk about what we've done - we talk about what we want to do."
After 13 consecutive non-conference matches in four early-season tournaments, the Wolfpack opens ACC play this weekend when it travels to Boston College at 7 p.m. on Friday and Maryland at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Follow both matches on Gametracker.
Bunn is certainly happy that his team has won 12 in a row, which matches what the 1987 team did en route to the ACC championship. Given his druthers, however, Bunn would take the latter over the former.
"Winning early is good for our program, but it's not all that we want to do," Bunn said. "One of the reasons I came here was to put together teams that could compete for the ACC championship. I saw nothing that would prevent that from happening. "We have challenged ourselves to do that."
So far this season, the Wolfpack (12-1) has played well with a strong mix of experienced veterans and talented freshmen. Seniors Kelly Wood, Margaret Salata and Luciana Shafer and junior Megan Cyr provide the leadership for Bunn's team, while sophomore Brie Merriwether and freshmen Rachel Buckley, Nicole Glass and Alston Kearns supply an injection of youthful energy.
Cyr, a setter from St. Andrews, Manitoba, Canada, who leads the ACC in assists per set, runs a tight and well-balanced offense. The Wolfpack ranks among ACC leaders in hitting percentage, assists and kills. The Wolfpack also owns the ACC's best winning percentage at .923.
The Wolfpack has won every match in its last three tournaments, with a different Wolfpack player earning MVP honors in each of the last three weekends (Merriwether, Glass and Cyr.) The Pack has won 27 of its last 28 sets, dating back to the Wisconsin match, in which State fell behind 0-2 and stormed back to win 3-2.
But Bunn sees anything but a perfect team.
"Our players all know we are not where we need to be in a lot of different areas," Bunn said. "Offensively, we're okay. But we're working on improving our serve receive and our defense.
"We need to continue to improve."
The Wolfpack is on the road for its next five matches, starting with tonight's game against the Eagles. Last year, Bunn's inaugural team took both matches against BC, accounting for half of its ACC win total of four.
He'd like to start the conference season out the same way this year.
"I think we are well-prepared," Bunn said. "We have a lot of people who haven't played an ACC match before, so this will be a new experience for them. I think they have been on a pretty good learning curve lately.
"We've had a good week of practice and I think we have gotten better since last weekend."
The Eagles have played only one home match so far this season, a 3-0 loss to Maryland earlier this week in its ACC opener.
"We know they will be tough at home," Bunn said.
