The Wolfpacker

Nov.-Dec. 2020

The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports

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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 ■ 43 f a younger Melissa Evans had her way, she probably would have been playing softball or basketball. An older, wiser Evans acknowl- edges she was "not that good" at softball, and in basketball her niche was being an aggressive, in-your-face defender. And with Evans potentially winding down her time as a star volleyball player at NC State and cementing her place as one of the best the program has ever seen, Evans knows she has made the right choice of sports. There was an old television sitcom called "Father Knows Best." The truth is, espe- cially in the case of Evans, mother knew best. Evans' mom, Zeynep, was a star vol- leyball player, talented enough to play on the Turkish national team. She always wanted her daughter to give the sport a try. Finally, at 14 years old, after joining a club team in Colorado, Evans embraced her calling. "It was such a good time," Evans recalled. "I felt like if I had this initial reaction when I was 11, I probably would have been done with softball and basketball, and just stuck with volleyball ever since. "I'm happy that happened when I was younger in the sense I was still in high school." Evans was genetically born to play vol- leyball. From her mother, she inherited the talent. Her 6-4 father, Keith, provided the height for Evans, who grew up as the tall girl in class. By high school, Evans realized being 6-1 could help her pay for her college ed- ucation. Schools like Colorado State and New Mexico State were among the first to reach out. She figured she might be Pac-12 bound, but an out-of-the-blue phone call from NC State led her and her older sister Jasmine to take a visit to Raleigh. They were sold on the team chemistry, and the fact that they agreed to be a pack- age deal when committing to the Wolfpack help sell their mother on moving across the country. Once in Raleigh, Evans quickly saw the cultural differences from her previ- ous homes in California and Colorado. "When I came to North Carolina, the very first thing everyone was saying was, 'Hi, how are you? Are you doing okay?'" Evans recalled. "It was so weird. I don't know these people, why are they saying hi to me? "Southern hospitality, I was not used to that." Over four years, though, Evans has more than adjusted and found success in the south. On the volleyball court, it was a very quick transition. She started 15 of 20 matches dur- ing her freshman season, but she had to deal with severe high-ankle sprain that took her out of action for over a month. As a sophomore, Evans felt that she learned how to become a follower of the leaders on the team. She would also finish the season second on the Pack with 349 kills and 18 aces en route to second-team All-ACC honors. That helped Evans become a leader the past two seasons on the court, where she was named second-team All-ACC once again in 2019 after finishing third in the league with 408 kills. Then, in October, she recorded her 1,000th career kill, becoming the fourth Wolfpack volleyball player to reach the milestone in the rally scoring era from 2001-present. She also became a prominent leader off the court, finding her voice while being one of the leading student-athletes on campus speaking out over the summer against racial injustices and sexual discrimination. "Being a student-athlete has given me a platform that I wouldn't have if I was just a regular student, so I really wanted to take that opportunity," Evans noted. Evans' future is still a bit uncertain. The NCAA's decision to postpone fall champi- onships and the ACC's choice not to have a volleyball championship limited NC State's schedule to just eight games, which the Wolf- pack split, 4-4. Evans would lead the Pack in aces (eight) and was second in kills (97). All fall athletes' eligibility was frozen this year, affording Evans the potential to come back, but she said those conversations are coming later. She would like to pursue, at some point, a career playing volleyball professionally overseas. "Looking back on my collegiate career, I didn't expect any of this," Evans admitted. "I did not expect that I'd be starting all four years. I didn't expect to have the injury, didn't expect to have surgery on my ankle. "I would say what I've learned about myself is that I can really push through adversity." ■ Evans was named second-team All-ACC in 2018 and 2019, and in October became the fourth Wolfpack volleyball player to reach 1,000 kills in the rally scoring era from 2001-present. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS " Being a student-athlete has given me a platform that I wouldn't have if I was just a regular student, so I really wanted to take that opportunity. " Evans on speaking out over the summer against racial injustices and sexual discrimination I LEAVING HER MARK Melissa Evans Has Established Herself On And Off The Court At NC State BY MATT CARTER

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