NC State Volleyball to Open NCAA Tournament Play Against Oregon State Friday

Match 32	NC State (20-11, 15-5 ACC) vs Oregon State (21-11, 11-9 PAC 12)
Date	Friday, Dec. 1
Time	5:30 p.m. (EST)
Location	Austin, Texas
Venue	Gregory Gym
TV	Longhorn Network / Watch ESPN
Live Stats	SideArm Stats
Social Media	@Pack Vball
Tickets	Buy Tickets

AUSTIN, Texas – The NC State volleyball team has achieved its season goal of making the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012 and now that the Wolfpack is in the field, the squad is not satisfied to simply be in the NCAA Championships.

NC State now turns its attention to achieving another first for the program, as the Pack is seeking its first victory in the NCAA Tournament. The Wolfpack will open play against Oregon State Friday evening at 5:30 p.m. (EST) inside Gregory Gym on the University of Texas' campus.

The match will be broadcast live on the Longhorn Network and is also available on Watch ESPN and the Watch ESPN App if the Longhorn Network is included in your television subscription.

Friday's matchup will be the first meeting between the programs. The winner of the contest will play the winner of the Texas/Fairfield match at 8 p.m. (EST) Saturday night.

First and second round all-session and single-day tickets are available now. Tickets may be purchased at TexasSports.com/Tickets, by calling 512-471-3333, or in person at the Sandeep Soni Ticket Office in Bellmont Hall (Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. and Friday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. ET). Tickets based on availability.

Weekend Storylines
- NC State is making its third NCAA Tournament appearance in the history of the program with previous trips in 2012 and 1987.
- The Wolfpack was sent to Texas in 2012 to make consecutive trips to the University of Texas in the NCAA Championships.
- NCSU finished the ACC season with a 15-5 overall record, breaking the program record for conference wins.
- The Pack concluded its ACC home slate with a perfect 10-0 mark for the first time in program history.
- Five NC State student-athletes will be heading to their home states for the weekend.

Last Time Out
In its last outing, NC State earned a 3-1 victory at Wake Forest to conclude the regular season and complete the season sweep versus the Demon Deacons.

Familiar Destination
The last time NC State was in the NCAA Tournament in 2012, the Wolfpack was sent to Austin, Texas, and competed inside Gregory Gym on the University of Texas' campus against Texas A&M. None of the players from that team are on the 2017 squad.

Texas Connections
The Wolfpack has numerous connections to the state of Texas, as five student-athletes are from the state. Kaylee Frazier, Nailah Gordon, Emily Harris, Kaitlyn Kearney and Kylie Pickrell will all be heading to their home state for the weekend.

Additionally, head coach Linda Hampton-Keith spent six seasons as an assistant coach in the state of Texas. She was an assistant at North Texas in 2005 before serving as the assistant coach at TCU from 2006-10.

Wolfpack Versus NCAA Teams
NC State played 13 regular-season matches against teams in the 2017 NCAA Tournament field, with seven of those during the non-conference portion of the season. The Wolfpack owns five wins versus teams in the NCAA Championships.

Program Record Five Players on the All-ACC Teams
A program record five NC State volleyball players were named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Teams, announced on Monday by the league office. Julia Brown and Kylie Pickrell were tabbed to the first team, while Bree Bailey and Kaitlyn Kearney secured second team honors.

Melissa Evans garnered a spot on the All-ACC Freshmen Team.

The Wolfpack's five all-conference selections is the most in the history of the program for a single season, topping the previous mark of three achieved on a few occasions.

Brown and Kearney collect their second All-ACC mentions, while Bailey, Evans and Pickrell garner their first. Bailey was an all-conference and all-freshmen selection at Arizona State prior to transferring to NC State.

Winningest ACC Class in Program History
This year's senior class of Bree Bailey, Julia Brown, Emily Harris, Kaitlyn Kearney and Perry Ramsey is the winningest ACC class in program history. The group owns 38 career conference wins to top the previous mark of 36.

Breaking the Program Record for ACC Wins
NC State broke the program record for ACC wins with its 14^th victory of the season in its final home match of the season versus Georgia Tech and added to the mark with a 15^th victory at Wake Forest in the season finale. The Wolfpack eclipsed the previous mark held by the 2016 squad with 13.

Head Coach Linda Hampton-Keith and her staff now own the top-two winningest conference seasons in program history.

Undefeated ACC Home Season
The Wolfpack also closed out its ACC home slate with a perfect 10-0 record after defeating the Yellow Jackets. It marks the first undefeated ACC home season with at least five home matches in program history.

Scouting Oregon State
The Oregon State Beavers enter Friday's matchup with a 21-11 overall record, which includes an 11-9 mark in Pac 12 conference play. The Beavers dropped their most recent two matchups, suffering a 3-0 loss against UCLA and a 3-2 defeat versus Oregon.

OSU is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2014 and fourth overall.

Senior outside hitter Mary-Kate Marshall leads the team offensively with 506 kills, averaging 4.36 kills per set. At the setter position, Kylee McLaughlin has handed out 1,243 assists on the year to average 10.72 assists per set. Defensively, libero Grace Massey paces a balanced group with 3.48 digs per set for a team-high 404 digs.

Oregon State owns a team attacking percentage of .238 and has limited opponents to a .205 clip.

NC State Volleyball to Open NCAA Tournament Play Against Oregon State Friday

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Players Mentioned

Bree Bailey

Julia Brown

Melissa Evans

Kaylee Frazier

Nailah Gordon

Emily Harris

Kaitlyn Kearney

Kylie Pickrell

Perry Ramsey