TONE TONE
SETTER SETTER
Veteran Kristen McDaniel
Has Helped Elevate
The NC State Volleyball Program
BY MATT HERB
risten McDaniel could sense the
excitement among her NC State
women's volleyball teammates in
the days leading up to their Oct. 1
showdown with perennial ACC
power Louisville.
The Cardinals were fifth in the
American Volleyball Coaches As-
sociation poll, and the Wolfpack had never beaten
such a highly ranked opponent. Nevertheless, in
the texts that players exchanged with each other
prior to the matchup, it was as if that history had
already been cast aside. The messages were brim-
ming with anticipation, with optimism, with pos-
sibility.
"Usually, a couple of days before games, we'll
text in our group chat and hype each other up," said
McDaniel, a graduate setter. "Before that game, we
were like, 'This is a team that we want to play to see
where we're at. If we want to make it to the NCAA
Tournament, these are the kind of teams we're
probably going to face.'
"We had nothing to lose. We had never beaten a
K
McDaniel had amassed a team-leading 483 assists through NC
State's first 21 matches this season.
PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS
