Technician

Whenever the NC State volleyball team takes the court again, it will be managed by quite a different coaching staff, including a brand new head coach, as well as five new additions to the team.

Volleyball

Regular season runs Sept. 17-Oct. 25

Eight league games over five weeks in the fall, starting Sept. 24

All 15 teams will be split among three regions:

Boston College, Syracuse, Louisville, Notre Dame, Pitt

Duke, North Carolina, NC State, Virginia, Virginia Tech

Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, Wake Forest

Each team will play its four region opponents twice

College Volleyball
Women's
The Citadel at Virginia Tech ACC Network, 4 p.m.

Technician

.@PackVball finally starts its regular season matchups against Duke this week, marking the beginning of a strange eight-game, four-opponent season running through October.
https://t.co/w3u1CIKJyf

The NC State volleyball team kicks off the Luka Slabe era this week with a pair of games against in-state foe Duke at Cameron Indoor to open the 2020 season.

The season opener on Wednesday, Sept. 23 serves as the kickoff to ACC Volleyball on ACC Network with the match beginning at 7 p.m. NC State then returns to the court against the Blue Devils Saturday, Sept. 26 at 6:30 p.m. Saturday's match will be available for streaming on ACCNX.

SLABE ERA BEGINS
Luka Slabe was named the 10th coach in program history on Feb. 10, 2020. Since then, Slabe has navigated the Wolfpack through unprecedented times and will take the court for the first time as a collegiate head coach this week.

Slabe, who also serves as an assistant coach for the U.S. Women's National Team, has an extensive coaching background including stints at his alma matter, BYU, and as head coach of the Slovenian National Team.

PRESEASON HONORS
For the third consecutive season, Melissa Evans was named to the Preseason All-ACC team. Evans joins Florida State's Taryn Knuth as the only active ACC players to receive the honor for three-straight seasons. Evans ranked fourth in the ACC in 2019 with 408 kills and is just 41 shy of reaching 1,000 career kills.

As a team, NC State was picked to finish 11th overall with North Carolina being the Pack's only 2020 opponent with a higher preseason ranking.

FRESH FACES
While the Wolfpack returns nine letter winners from 2019, they are also boosted by several talented newcomers, including transfer redshirt freshman Sydney Ferguson and freshmen Hartley Myers and Riley Shaak. In addition to the newcomers, Mmachi Nwoke will don the Wolfpack uniform for the first time after missing the 2019 season due to injury.

SCOUTING DUKE
Duke returns 11 players from its 2019 roster that went 12-19 a year ago. The Blue Devils were 5-13 against ACC foes, including a narrow 3-2 win over the Pack. Duke returns middle blocker Lily Cooper who ranked top-10 in the ACC last season in both blocks per set and total blocks. Duke leads the all-time series with NC State, 66-33, while the last three match ups between the two teams have gone to five sets.

In last years matchup against Duke, Kaylee Frazier set a school rally-scoring era record with 38 digs. The 38 digs are the third most all-time at NC State and was the best performance in an ACC conference game. The Pack totaled 117 digs as a team, the most for NC State in an ACC match since 1995.

UP NEXT
Following the opening weekend slate, NC State will welcome Virginia Tech to Reynolds Coliseum for a pair of matches Oct. 2 and 3. Both matchups will be available to watch on ACCNX.

In accordance to local guidelines, NC State fall sports will begin without spectators at least through the month of September. NC State will continue to evaluate and reassess for the month of October.

The day is finally here

Durham, N.C.
7 p.m.
ACC Network

Watching this match. State not looking real good. Especially at setter.

In a thrilling five-set matchup that featured 26 ties and nine lead changes, NC State and Duke pushed each other to five sets in a close matchup to open the 2020 volleyball season for both squads. Duke came away with the 3-2 win (25-19, 23-25, 25-8, 23-25, 15-12) over NC State despite multiple comeback efforts by the Wolfpack.

Melissa Evans led NC State offensively with a game-high 14 kills. The senior also had a career and team-best 17 digs. Hartley Myers and Pam Chukwujekwu joined Evans in double-digit kills with 12 and 11, respectively. It was a career-best performance for Chukwujekwu, who also tacked on five blocks.


UP NEXT
The Pack will have a second chance against the Blue Devils Saturday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. as it returns to Cameron Indoor. The match will be broadcast on ACCNX.

Duke wins 1st set
25-16

Duke wins set 2
25-22
lead match 2-0