Wisconsin bracket
Miami, 5th ACC team so far

48 teams announced

Last quarter bracket
Stanford bracket

NC State did not make NCAAT

Seems like we got shafted by the NCAA again

NC State and Duke in first 8 out

WolfpackBAE08 said:

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Seems like we got shafted by the NCAA again

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Last 4 in had RPI less than 40

NC State was #42 prior to last week

5th ACC
NC State lost to Miami and Duke
Miami made field, Duke did not
I think that home loss to Boston College really hurt

Disappointing news for the team I am sure

WarrenPeace said:

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Did we make it?

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No

Looking at bracket quickly
None of NC State's nonconference opponents made the NCAAT

We finished ahead of Miami in the final RPI that came out today. Somehow, after a win, we dropped from #42 the previous week to #44 in the final. Miami dropped to #45, after losing to both Pitt and Boston College in the final week. We lost head-to-head against Miami and Miami beat Georgia Tech twice. So I can understand why they were selected ahead of us.

https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/volleyball-women/d1/ncaa-womens-volleyball-rpi

After looking over this in a little detail...IMO Missouri, Texas A&M, Georgia, and TCU have no business being in the NCAA tournament over NC State. Some kind of pro-SEC bias seems built into the RPI and selection process. And none of those 4 teams I mentioned were automatic qualifiers, as Kentucky were the SEC Champions and Texas were the Big12 Champs.

Georgia was #47 in the RPI. They had a 19-11 record, versus our 22-7 record. I looked at Georgia's schedule, and they barely beat Clemson 3-2 (we beat them 3-0 twice), and they got thrashed by FSU 0-3 at home (the sets weren't even close, 25-20, 25-17, 25-17), while we almost beat FSU on the road, falling in a tough 5 setter.

Missouri being ranked at #34 makes zero sense to me. They have a 17-12 overall record and only 9-9 in the SEC. I looked over their schedule, and they have zero "signature" wins to speak of, other than two wins over an Auburn team that was ranked #23 and #24 at the time. They got smoked in 7 other games against top 25 opponents.

Same for Texas A&M, who is sitting at #37 in the final RPI, and has a 16-12 overall record and a losing conference record of 8-10. They should not be ranked higher in the RPI than NC State. Looked at their schedule too. They have one "signature" win of beating #4 Florida. But that's it, and they got skunked 0-3 by Georgia who is 10 spots below them in RPI.

They selected 8 teams from the SEC, to only 5 from the ACC. I guess "it just means more", and that's why they can screw us and select all these middling to lower half of the conference SEC teams?

Also, the team just above us in the RPI, TCU (at #43) was selected to the NCAA tournament, but has a very unimpressive record. They were 16-14 overall and had a losing 8-10 conference record. They have no signature wins, with the only semi-impressive wins being two wins over #20 Baylor.

NC State's volleyball team was definitely shafted in this.

I follow Courtney Bryant on IG, one of the Wolfpack volleyball team members. In her latest post (below), there are numerous teammates commenting on her post saying that they were "robbed" and that the NCAA is "rigged".

https://instagr.am/p/C0IebsooHpj

Really sad for the the Volleyball team. They should have gotten in. There are politics in everything and it probably was rigged against us.

The girls had a great season and should be rewarded.

Two members of the Wolfpack volleyball team earned all-conference honors, as announced by the Atlantic Coast Conference office Monday afternoon. Both Amanda Rice and Ava Brizard earned All-ACC Second Team honors.

Rice, a junior opposite, made her mark in the record book. She recorded three consecutive 20+ kill matches this season, a first in program history. In Oct. 27 match at Duke, she recorded 27 kills, a career high, and became the first person since 2016 to record at least 27 kills in a five-set match. Rice finished conference play with 200 kills, 38 blocks and 221 points.

After her performance against Duke and UNC, she was named the ACC Offensive Player of the Week. She became the first person since Melissa Evans in 2021 to record back-to-back 20-kill matches.

Brizard, a sophomore outside hitter, played in every set in every match this season. In ACC play, she led the team with 236 kills to average 3.47 per set. Brizard also led the team in points with 259.5 and added 14 service aces to her conference stats. In the Oct. 8 meeting with Florida State, she tallied a career high 25 kills on 53 attempts with only three errors. She ranked in the top-10 in the conference for kills and points.

https://gopack.com/news/2023/11/27/womens-volleyball-rice-brizard-earn-all-conference-honors

Another IG post by a vollyeball team member with many players expressing their belief that they were robbed by not being selected to the tournament.

The caption of the post is the team's record, 22-7. Team member Martyna Leoniak comments "Revenge starts now", and team member Kristen McDaniel comments "the biggest robbery in history".

https://instagr.am/p/C0KcgZ0Pops

Wolfer79 said:

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THANK YOU #WPN, for everything this season♥️

We'll see you in 2024. pic.twitter.com/yZwj17S4ry

— Wolfpack Volleyball (@PackVball) November 29, 2023

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I guess it is obvious that good fan support truly can make a HUGE difference in the success of a program, but when you hear the head coaches say it explicitly, it really hits home. And it helps not only long-term for a program (in terms of recruits wanting to go to places where there are big, passionate crowds), but also in the short-term -- such as providing additional motivation/energy for the team and helping them in contests and rattling the opposition.

I listened to a podcast interview with the Wolfpack women's head coach, Simon Earnshaw, several months back just after they won their first ever ACC Tournament Championship against UNC over at Cary Tennis Park. He said that the huge and loud Wolfpack crowd was instrumental in propelling them to the victory, and it wasn't just "coach speak". He genuinely meant that the crowd energized his players, and helped them win. And then I read an article on one of the Tarheel sports sites where they quoted their head coach as saying that the raucous Wolfpack crowd actually hurt their players.

Also, the women's tennis team should be inspiration to the volleyball team in particular, as well as any Wolfpack program. For decades the Wolfpack women's tennis team was a cellar dweller in the ACC. Head Coach Simon Earnshaw was hired in 2013 and started turning the program around. From about 2020 to 2023, the program has been the in the top 10 in the nation for virtually all of that period, and top 5 in the nation for much of that period -- culminating in their best season in school history last year, winning their first ever ACC Championship and making the national final and finishing #2 in the nation.

This volleyball program could become elite as well, and become a top 10 or top 5 team. Not saying it will happen...I'm just saying that if you get the right coach, recruits, fan support, etc and catch lightning in a bottle, it can happen. Just 6 or 7 years ago, it also would have seemed "impossible" for women's tennis to ever be relevant or a consistent top 5-10 team. We now have many things in place to make a big leap in the program - elite facilities in the renovated Reynolds, what looks like a very good coach in Slabe, and rapidly growing and very solid fan support. And we are already seeing tangible results, with a steady upward trajectory of the program over the last 4 years under Slabe.

𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗲𝗿

✏️: Sophie Groom
🏐: Middle Blocker
🎓: Junior
⬅️: Stetson
➡️: NC State#CollegeVBTransfers | #NCAAWVB pic.twitter.com/u6DFmrgQIp

— College VBall Transfers (@CVBTransfers) January 8, 2024

The volleyball team had a spring match today against unc in Reynolds. They won 4 of 5 sets. Controlled the first set, winning 25-22. Destroyed them in the second set 25-9. Won a close third set 25-23, and a close fourth set 26-24. Dropped the 5th set 21-25.

Good video here with interviews with Coach Slabe and Ava Brizard recapping last season and the spring practices/scrimmages, and the previewing the upcoming season.

IMO, this team could be very good in fall 2024 and make a "breakthrough" into the top 25, make the NCAA tournament, and maybe finish top 3 or 4 in the conference. They only lost a couple key contributors from last season, and are returning most of their best players.

Spring Wrap Up🎬@JGravleySPORTS sat down with @CoachSlabe and @ava_brizard to chat about the spring, team chemistry, US Team tryouts, the Paris Olympics, and more! #WhyNotUs | #GoPack pic.twitter.com/A4BvEUdwXQ

— Wolfpack Volleyball (@PackVball) May 8, 2024