The volleyball team picked up its first home win since early 2006 during the Hilton/RTP N.C. State Classic in Reynolds Coliseum this weekend. But the Wolfpack could not take down UNC-Asheville in the final match of the tournament Saturday night, losing 3-2.
State (4-8) is off to its best start since a 6-6 start back in 2005, the year the Pack last picked up a win in conference play.
State out-hit and out-blocked the Bulldogs during the match and were up two games to one. However, the Pack lost momentum in the fourth set and ultimately lost the match to a scrappy UNC-A team that refused to go down easily.
“A lot of things broke down [in the final two sets],” senior Aiwane Iboaya said. “It showed our inexperience.”
All four of the Wolfpack’s freshmen saw action during the match, but junior Arlee Tamietti outshone the rest of the Pack, amassing 16 kills over the five games. While the transfer from Boise State’s play was a good sign, coach Charita Stubbs said it was key that other players stepped up.
“We’re asking Arlee to do a lot and I think she’s responding well,” Stubbs said. “We need to be able to put the ball in other people’s hands.”
The Pack lost the first set but picked up the next two to lead the match as the fourth set began. With the score tied at 24 State was just two points from clinching the match, but gave up kills to UNC-A’s Kaitlyn McDaniel and Lauren Ficker, respectively, as the Bulldogs forced a fifth stanza.
The fifth set saw UNC-A grab a 14-9 lead before two Tamietti kills and a Bulldog attack error brought the Pack back with the score 14-12. But that was as close as State would get as UNC-A’s Heather Burns ended it with a cross-court kill.
Tamietti, who earned all-tournament honors over the weekend, said the team’s mentality fell apart when it came time to close out the match.
“We all really wanted it but we got to the point where we were trying too hard,” Tamietti said. “We weren’t trying to win, we were trying not to lose.”
While the Pack picked up big home wins over the weekend at the expense of Norfolk State and Western Carolina, Stubbs said her team knows it’s all about what happens during conference play.
“What the administration and the public want to see is the wins in the ACC,” Stubbs said. “[This is] all in preparation for ACC play.”
State will travel to Greenville this weekend to meet Morgan State, Marshall, and East Carolina in the East Carolina Tournament.
