North Carolina State University Athletics
Red Team Wins Final 3 Sets in Wolfpack Challenge
8/18/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 18, 2012
RALEIGH, N.C. – NC State third-year volleyball coach Bryan Bunn saw things to praise and plenty of room for improvement as his team played its only exhibition game of the preseason on Saturday night at Reynolds Coliseum.
The Red team won the final three sets to take a 3-1 victory in the intra-squad scrimmage.
Senior setter Megan Cyr, playing solely for the Red squad, led both teams with 29 assists and had a .500 attack average with two kills on four attempts. Freshman middle blocker Morgan Cormier, also playing for just the Red team, had 11 points in the contest, with nine kills, two blocks and an outstanding .368 attack average.
Switching between both teams, sophomore outside hitter Nikki Glass had a match-high 13 kills, three blocks and a total of 16.5 points. Sophomore outside hitter Dariyan Hopper also played for both teams, posting a total of 12 kills, three blocks and 13.5 points.
Junior middle blocker Brie Merriwether, playing mostly for the Red team, had 10 kills, three blocks and 11.5 points.
Overall, however, Bunn would like to see his team cut down on its errors. The Pack combined for 47 attack errors and 21 service errors in the four sets, resulting in a .029 attack average for the White team and a .217 average for the Red team.
“We have to get better,” Bunn said. “We just made too many mistakes.”
The Red team had 10 aces, while the White team had six, and both were more evidence of return mistakes than strong serves, Bunn said.
“We did put different people in different spots to see how they would perform,” Bunn said. “We still have four more days of practice before we open the season to get better.
“We'll have to work hard in practice.”
The Wolfpack, coming off last year’s 20-13 overall and 8-12 record, opens the season on Friday at 4:30 against Jacksonville at the College of Charleston’s tournament in Charleston, S.C. It’s the first of three consecutive tournament weekends for the Wolfpack, which hosts back-to-back events at Reynolds Coliseum on Aug. 31-Sept. 1 and Sept. 7-8.
The second and third tournaments will include six of the 13 consecutive home matches the Pack will have in August and September. All home matches are free for all spectators.
