The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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of State's finest seasons at the position in a long time. The sophomore, who was selected to the All-ACC third team and emerged as even more of a force in the ACC and NCAA Tournaments, finished second in the ACC and 12th in the nation with an average of 6.3 assists per game — making him the first State guard to average more than 4.6 per game since 1991. Brown paced the squad in steals with an ACC-best 1.8 per game and assists with 234, which was the seventh-best total in program history, while he also averaged 12.7 points per game. He was named to the league's all-tournament second team, and he averaged 13.7 points, 6.7 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals per contest in the postseason. 13. Hannah Hopkins, Women's Diving The junior from Greensboro just missed All-ACC honors with a fourth-place fin- ish on the platform at the ACC Champi- onships, then placed fourth at the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships to advance to the NCAA Championships. She earned All-America honors at the big meet after finishing in seventh place, despite it being her first trip to the NCAA Championships. 14. Ryan Mathews, Baseball The fifth-year senior was NC State's power hitter, and he tied for first in the ACC with 17 home runs. The designated hitter/outfielder also ranked second in the league in RBI (62), total bases (140) and slugging percentage (.628). Mathews was named first-team All-ACC and first-team all-region before he was selected in the 27th round of the MLB Draft by the Oak- land Athletics. 15. Albin Choi, Men's Golf The sophomore from Toronto, Ont., earned honorable mention All-America honors for the second straight campaign. Choi qualified for the NCAA Champion- ships as an individual, where he tied for 37th, after taking medalist honors at the NCAA Ann Arbor Regional for the second time in his college career. The regional victory marked his fourth college win, and he notched nine top-20 finishes in 12 tour- naments. Choi also earned All-ACC and all-region honors, and he ranked eighth in the ACC with a scoring average of 71.76. He is one of just six Pack golfers to win at least four events, and his career scoring average of 71.64 is second in program annals to for- mer national champion Matt Hill. 16. Joelle Kissell, Women's Tennis The sophomore was named All-ACC 120 ■ THE WOLFPACKER team's late-season surge that culminated with a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournament. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN Sophomore standouts (left to right) Lorenzo Brown and C.J. Leslie powered the men's basketball and finished the year ranked No. 32 in the country as a singles player by the ITA. De- spite playing at No. 1 singles in the tough- est tennis league in the nation, Kissell went 16-10 and defeated eight ranked opponents. She reached the NCAA Singles Champion- ships and became just the second player in program history to advance to the second round. Kissell, who is just two singles wins shy of cracking the program's all-time top 10, also thrived in doubles — she was ranked No. 81 nationally at the end of the year with partner Ashley Miller, and the duo checked in at No. 10 in the Carolina region. Field 17. Nathaniel Williams, Men's Track and The redshirt sophomore earned second- team All-America honors by finishing 13th at the NCAA Championships in the discus with a throw of 181 feet, 6 inches. The Newport, N.C., native was named All-ACC earlier in the year for the event by placing second at the conference championships, and he also scored by placing fifth in the hammer throw. During the indoor season, he placed fifth in the ACC for the weight throw. and Field The former walk-on from Washington, 18. Kris Kornegay-Gober, Men's Track D.C., was named the field MVP of the ACC Indoor Championships after winning gold in the high jump with a mark of 7 feet, 3¾ inches, which broke the second- longest-standing record in the meet's re- cord book. The three-time All-ACC selec- tion became just the third Pack athlete to ever win gold in the event. The junior took fourth in the high jump at the ACC Outdoor Championships. 19. Margaret Salata, Volleyball The senior middle blocker led the volley- ball team to one of its best seasons ever and was rewarded with a spot on the All-ACC squad, which made her the first Pack player to earn the honor since 2005. The four-year starter tallied 164 blocks, the second-best single-season total in school history, in ad- dition to leading the squad with 382 kills and 25 solo blocks. Salata tallied a hitting percentage of 35.5 percent, which ranked third in the league, while per blocks per set (1.36) also was the third-best mark in the ACC. Her 3.16 kills per set ranked ninth in the conference. 20. Jaime Pulgar, Men's Tennis The Spaniard wrapped up his career with his third straight All-ACC nod and quali- fied for the NCAA Singles Championships. The senior fell in his opening-round match, but it was an impressive accomplishment