North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
11-1
Howard
7-7
NC State Wins 11th Straight; Sweeps Howard, 3-0
9/20/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
RALEIGH, N.C. – For the third consecutive week, the NC State women’s volleyball team won its weekend tournament, as the Wolfpack defeated Howard, 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-17) Saturday night inside Reynolds Coliseum. With the victory, State captured the Courtyard Midtown Invitational title and won its 11th straight match.
The Wolfpack improves to 11-1 on the season, while the Lady Bison fall to 7-7.
Bunn’s Beat
Opening Statement…
“Offensively, we played really well tonight,” said head coach Bryan Bunn. “They’re a well-coached team that plays good defense and doesn’t make a lot of errors. They showed us some things that we need to work on this week, but overall we played pretty well.”
On winning a tournament title for the third consecutive weekend…
“It’s great. It’s good to play well at home. We beat a very good Coastal Carolina team last night and we played well enough today to get two wins, so it’s exciting.”
On Rachel Buckley’s play in the tournament…
“She rebounded very well from last weekend. She struggled at Georgia last weekend, but she was really mindful of everything that she was doing in practice this week and did a great job this weekend. She carried us through a couple of sets.”
Tournament Notes
- Senior Rachel Buckley was named the Most Valuable Player for the tournament, while freshman Kaitlyn Kearney and senior Alston Kearns were both named to the all-tournament team.
- NC State has won each of the past three tournaments it has played, including the Courtyard Midtown Classic (Sept. 5-6), the Georgia Benson Hospitality Invitational (Sept. 12-13) and the Courtyard Midtown Invitational (Sept. 19-20).
- The Wolfpack was victorious in each of the nine sets it played this weekend and has not lost a set since the first set against Georgia on Sept. 13.
Worth Noting
- NC State’s 11 match win streak is the longest win streak for the program since the 2012 season when the squad reeled off 10 in a row, also in the month of September.
- After the two teams were tied at 21-all, State won four straight points to win the first set, 25-21. Kearney had five kills and four blocks in the frame, while Buckley chipped in with five kills. In addition, Kearns recorded nine digs in the set.
- After trailing the Lady Bison 12-9 in the second set, the Wolfpack utilized a 6-0 run to take a 15-12 lead. The squad would not trail for the remainder of the frame on the way to winning the set, 25-19. NC State hit .364 in the frame and was led by Buckley with five kills.
- NC State ended the match on a 12-6 run and completed the sweep after taking the third set, 25-17. Five of redshirt sophomore Morgan Cormier’s six kills on the night came in the third set, while setter Maggie Speaks had two of her three blocks in the final set.
Key Performers
- Speaks recorded a double-double performance, as the sophomore recorded a match-high 36 assists and also chipped in with 10 digs. It was her fourth double-double of the season and first since the win against UConn.
- Buckley smacked a match-high 12 kills with a .500 hitting percentage. Kearney put down nine kills, while Ramsey had eight. Cormier and freshman Julia Brown each notched six kills apiece.
- Defensively, Kearns tallied a match-high 14 digs, while sophomore Maddie Brown pitched in with 13 in addition to Speaks’ 10.
Up Next
The Pack will open its ACC slate against Syracuse on Friday, Sept. 26 inside Reynolds Coliseum. The match is slated to begin at 7 p.m.
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