North Carolina State University Athletics
Photo by: Greg Mintel
‘Serve and Pass’ with Makenzie Kuchmaner
8/14/2017 5:15:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
*Tickets are ON SALE NOW, as single-game tickets are adults - $7, youth (17 and younger) - $5, and groups (15 or more) - $3. Children age two or younger will be admitted free. Season tickets are also available for adults ($50), seniors/youth ($25) and are ON SALE NOW.*
With the start of the 2017 NC State Volleyball season rapidly approaching, GoPack.com will be catching up with each member of the team to see how preseason practice is going and how excited she is to start the season. Periodically a Q and A will be posted to the website titled 'Serve and Pass', giving fans an inside look at each player on the squad.
Makenzie Kuchmaner
Waxhaw, N.C.
DS/L
Now that practice has started, how has that been going?
"It's been going great; anytime that we can get in the gym and play as a team is awesome. I love the competitiveness that this team has and the energy that everyone brings into the gym every day. It's awesome being around my teammates and getting the coaching that we all need."
How much do you think the trip to Italy has helped with preseason practice?
"It has made practice run so much smoother, because we can get into competition and positional stuff without having to stop and reteach all of the information since we've already been through it with the freshmen and newcomers. Everyone has done a great job of retaining what we learned when we were preparing for Italy and it gives us a head start to preseason practice."
Describe the trip to Italy.
"The trip to Italy was surreal. I would go back in a heartbeat. It's one of the places that I've always wanted to visit and it was great to be able to travel there with my teammates and coaches. All the views were breathtaking and playing was even better because we played so well and it was the first time that we were able to play with this year's team.
"We had a lot of fun playing against the teams there and then afterwards we would have dinner with the team to learn more about the culture and get to know them."
What was the best part of the trip?
"My favorite part was visiting Porto Venere and Lake Como. We went on a boat and saw all of the architecture and that was really cool to see."
How excited are you to get the season started?
"I feel like I've been waiting forever, but then again it has come so fast and I can't wait to see what we can do this season. We have a lot of goals, expectations and I think we have the talent to reach them, so I can't wait to see how it goes and how far we can get."
What are your goals for the team and individually this year?
"As a team, we want to win the ACC and if not then we want to be among the top of the conference. We want to make the NCAA Tournament and once we get there, we want to make a deep run. We've been working hard towards that everyday and everyone's all in.
"Individually, I just want to do as much as I can to help the team in whatever role."
How does it feel to be a junior?
"I can't believe that I'm hallway finish with my time here; it has gone so fast. I just want to be a leader on the team this year and I hope we can make the most of it."
Was there anything in particular that you wanted to work on this summer for the season?
"We've worked a lot on strength and conditioning and making sure that we're being great teammates."
What age did you start playing volleyball?
"I started playing when I was 12 on a developmental team."
Where would you go on a dream vacation?
"Somewhere tropical; anywhere with the beach, snorkeling, skydiving and all of that other stuff."
How excited are you about classes starting Wednesday?
"I have a pretty good schedule for the fall, so I'm pretty excited to start classes. As a team, we're all committed to working hard in the classroom as well to make sure that we maintain the Chancellor's Cup, given to the team with the highest GPA for the academic year."
With the start of the 2017 NC State Volleyball season rapidly approaching, GoPack.com will be catching up with each member of the team to see how preseason practice is going and how excited she is to start the season. Periodically a Q and A will be posted to the website titled 'Serve and Pass', giving fans an inside look at each player on the squad.
Makenzie Kuchmaner
Waxhaw, N.C.
DS/L
Now that practice has started, how has that been going?
"It's been going great; anytime that we can get in the gym and play as a team is awesome. I love the competitiveness that this team has and the energy that everyone brings into the gym every day. It's awesome being around my teammates and getting the coaching that we all need."
How much do you think the trip to Italy has helped with preseason practice?
"It has made practice run so much smoother, because we can get into competition and positional stuff without having to stop and reteach all of the information since we've already been through it with the freshmen and newcomers. Everyone has done a great job of retaining what we learned when we were preparing for Italy and it gives us a head start to preseason practice."
Describe the trip to Italy.
"The trip to Italy was surreal. I would go back in a heartbeat. It's one of the places that I've always wanted to visit and it was great to be able to travel there with my teammates and coaches. All the views were breathtaking and playing was even better because we played so well and it was the first time that we were able to play with this year's team.
"We had a lot of fun playing against the teams there and then afterwards we would have dinner with the team to learn more about the culture and get to know them."
What was the best part of the trip?
"My favorite part was visiting Porto Venere and Lake Como. We went on a boat and saw all of the architecture and that was really cool to see."
How excited are you to get the season started?
"I feel like I've been waiting forever, but then again it has come so fast and I can't wait to see what we can do this season. We have a lot of goals, expectations and I think we have the talent to reach them, so I can't wait to see how it goes and how far we can get."
What are your goals for the team and individually this year?
"As a team, we want to win the ACC and if not then we want to be among the top of the conference. We want to make the NCAA Tournament and once we get there, we want to make a deep run. We've been working hard towards that everyday and everyone's all in.
"Individually, I just want to do as much as I can to help the team in whatever role."
How does it feel to be a junior?
"I can't believe that I'm hallway finish with my time here; it has gone so fast. I just want to be a leader on the team this year and I hope we can make the most of it."
Was there anything in particular that you wanted to work on this summer for the season?
"We've worked a lot on strength and conditioning and making sure that we're being great teammates."
What age did you start playing volleyball?
"I started playing when I was 12 on a developmental team."
Where would you go on a dream vacation?
"Somewhere tropical; anywhere with the beach, snorkeling, skydiving and all of that other stuff."
How excited are you about classes starting Wednesday?
"I have a pretty good schedule for the fall, so I'm pretty excited to start classes. As a team, we're all committed to working hard in the classroom as well to make sure that we maintain the Chancellor's Cup, given to the team with the highest GPA for the academic year."
Players Mentioned
DS/L
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