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Maize adds strength to Wolfpack
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TECHNICIAN
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PAGE 11 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018
Maize adds strength to Wolfpack
BRANDON LANG/TECHNICIAN Senior center Akela Maize posts up with the ball against Lee University. Maize led the team with 13 points scored in 17 minutes of action. The Wolfpack would go on to win 5742 in Reynolds Coliseum on Nov. 2.
GLENN WAGSTAFF/TECHNICIAN Senior center Akela Maize jumps to dunk the ball into the basket at the NC State vs. University of Southern Alabama women’s basketball game in Reynolds Coliseum on Nov. 17. The Wolfpack women’s basketball team won against the Jaguars 71-50 to bring its record to 4-0 on the season.
Kailee Jurnak
Correspondent
NC State women’s basketball senior center Akela Maize has come a long way in the past four years. Maize has become a respectable player but she didn’t start with basketball.
When asked about why she started basketball, Maize gave a unique response.
“Basketball? Well you know I used to be a cheerleader; I used to be a dancer,” Maize said. “I did so much stuff but over the years people [would] tell [me] with my height being 6’5” like, ‘you know, basketball is where most people with your height go.’ So then [I] tried it out like a social thing and your friends play it too and you’re just having fun while you’re doing it. And then along the way you start to love the game and you start to love how the fans react to a 3-point shot or a blocked shot, things like that you feel and you gather energy. So that’s where I chose basketball because in other sports you don’t really get that [energy]. I like that aspect of that.”
That energy from the fans is what helped Maize’s decision to come play at NC State.
“The fans are great here,” Maize said. “They’re honestly our sixth man helping us win games with their energy, bringing the energy to help us, uplift us, and that was a big thing when I had come to a State game before I committed [to State]. Just seeing how engaged they were. It was like they were on the team with us. So that was a big reason why I came to State.”
And the Wolfpack is glad she chose NC State. This season has been a great year for Maize all-around, with career highs in blocks, shots and rebounds, including a high of 11 total rebounds against Virginia Tech. Two career records against Alabama were managing five blocks and 20 points.
Despite the career highs, Maize explains that she just wants to do her best for the team.
“I know I was going to have a bigger role, this being my senior year,” Maize said. “I don’t really think about career highs. It’s a great thing that I have those career highs, but I know as a player and as a leader on the team that I need to step up my game. Having those career highs is a result of that.”
Associate head coach Nikki West agreed with Maize stepping up as a role model on the team and explained that Maize isn’t only a reliable player on the court.
“Akela is a leader on the court as well as off the court,” West said. “I think she’s doing a very good job of mentoring her teammates and especially the freshmen, making sure that they understand their roles and what we expect, and just making sure everyone is in line. She’s done a great job at doing that.”
Personally, Maize takes pride in her defensive contributions to the team, claiming it’s her largest strength towards the team’s efforts.
“Definitely defense,” Maize said. “I’m the leading shot blocker on our team. So I definitely bring that defensive intensity and defensive help. That can lead to quick buckets and transition, which, we’re really good in transition, and we get a lot of energy from transition. So that also helps our game.”
West took a different angle though; and praised Maize’s strength in offensive plays.
“Akela’s biggest strength I would have to say is being a force on that low block and making people have to respect that and guard us down there,” West said. “She’s given us some more offense because, face it, last year we had a lot of guards who contributed a lot of points. And Akela who has done a good job of picking up that slack and scoring for us on a consistent basis.”
Even after all of Maize’s accomplishments and growth this year, she remains humble and level-headed, acknowledging things she wishes to improve upon for the remainder of her last season.
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PAGE 12 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018
Swimming and Diving look to continue win streaks against UNC
Drew McNatton
Correspondent
NC State’s swimming and diving team will face off against UNC-Chapel Hill on Friday in Chapel Hill in the men’s sixth dual meet of the season and the women’s eighth.
In the CSCAA coaches’ poll the NC State men’s team is ranked No. 3 while UNC is unranked in the men’s poll. As for the women however, NC State ranks No. 14, ahead of UNC’s No. 21
NC State’s men’s team so far this season is undefeated in their five dual meets while UNC sits at 3-4 so far. As for the women, NC State sits at 3-4 and has managed to win just one dual meet on the road this year against Wisconsin. The Tar Heel women are 4-3 in dual meets this season.
If looking at top times and scores for each event for these two schools is any indication for how this meet will go, it looks very good for the Wolfpack as it has the better performance in all but two events: the 100-yard breaststroke and the one-meter dive. As for the women, the two schools are very even and it appears to be more of a toss-up, but times on a sheet can be very different than the times these swimmers may post when facing a bitter rival.
Key swimmers in this meet for the Wolfpack men could be seniors Ryan Held and Anton Ipsen as well as juniors Justin Ress and Andreas Vazaios. Ress, Held and Ipsen just need to continue on the level they have been and the Pack should be in good shape, Vazaios, however, is the men’s best shot at winning the 100-yard breaststroke which in a close meet could become a deciding factor.
Senior Hannah Moore, sophomore Ky-Lee Perry and freshman Julia Poole are the women’s best chances to get first place, which is the pivotal possession in events. If they can succeed and win at least a race each, they will give the Pack a very good chance to come away with a victory and reach .500 in dual meets on the season.
The Wolfpack men are looking for their fourth-straight victory against the Tar Heels on Friday while the women look for their third.
A win at UNC would be very good for the Wolfpack; the men would continue their dominate tear this season as they have already knocked off defending champion Texas, while the women could bounce back from a tough loss against Virginia and end their four dual meet losing streak dating all the way back to November.
A win would roll nicely into the Carolina College Nike Invite meet in early February and the ACC championship meet which beings mid-February.
CAIDE WOOTEN/ARCHIVE Freshman Anton Ipsen competes in the 1,000-yard freestyle during NC State’s meet with rival UNC-Chapel Hill Jan. 31, 2015, at the Casey Aquatic Center. Ipsen finished first in the event with a time of 8:55.70. The No. 8 Wolfpack men’s team remained undefeated, beating the No. 20 Tar Heels 180-118. The No. 12 women’s team just barely missed topping the No. 5 Tar Heel women 146.5-134.5.
MAIZE
continued from page 11
“I definitely want to improve more with my field goal percentage,” Maize said. “Making those easy shots around the basket. Things along that matter. Assists, I want to get better in that [too]. And as a team, I want us to get better in talking and communicating. Not having those mental lapses that coach talks about all the time, where we may not remember a play or know a play that could lose a possession. I think along the road we should get better as a team.”
Maize has taken some of the constructive criticism from the coaching staff and has reaped the benefits from working on them; such as growing stronger and becoming more physical on the court.
“She has definitely dedicated herself in the weight room; she has gotten stronger,” West said. “She’s a force in the paint, she blocks shots [and] she scores points for us. She has definitely improved and has been doing a great job. We have five more weeks of regular season, so I hope to continue to see more and more and more from her.”
Maize reflects on the dwindling time left in the regular season, marking her last games as a senior.
“Wow, only nine games left in the regular season,” Maize said. “Well my thoughts on that is that I better take advantage of it while it lasts. It’s a small amount of games and you never know postseason, how many games you’re going to get. So making sure I make the best out of all the games and I give 100 percent each time I step on the court.”
Following up on that, Maize had some final words of what she wanted to accomplish with her team and what kind of a mark she wanted to leave for the program.
“Honestly, I want to do better than we did last year,” Maize said. “I don’t want people to say, ‘hey we only went far last year because we had those four seniors.’ I want it to be, ‘we can do it as a team. We don’t just need those four seniors to take us to the second round.’ I want people to say, ‘hey, as a team and coach Moore being the coach, we went farther than we did with those four seniors.’ That’s the kind of the goal that I have for this team. Hoping we can get to at least a Final Four [or] Sweet 16.”
West had heartwarming words for Maize’s efforts towards the program as a player and as a young woman.
“I am probably the most excited, impressed and loving it for Akela,” West said. “She has every year gotten better and she’s blossomed. And this is the ideal senior year for her so every accolade she’s received she deserves because she has worked so hard this summer, these past few off seasons to get all of this. I am extremely proud of her and excited for her.”
West ended with saying that she hopes Maize will only continue growing.
“The sky’s the limit so she’ll be able to do whatever she wants to do when she graduates,” West said.
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TECHNICIAN
PAGE 13 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018
Women’s Tennis set to open spring season
Jason Bacherman
Staff Wrtier
NC State women’s tennis will begin its spring season and return to action when it faces UCLA and Kentucky or Northwestern in the ITA Kick Off Weekend in Lexington, Kentucky, this weekend.
The event will be the Pack’s first since November, when it squared off against UNLV in the Rebel Invite and sent three of its four singles entrants to the finals.
The Wolfpack had a strong fall season and received votes in the first ITA Poll of 2018. NC State is coming off a highly successful 2017 spring season, finishing with a program-best No. 16 ranking in the ITA polls and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, topping Oregon in the first round but ultimately falling to Georgia.
The team received major contributions from the duo of junior Claudia Wiltorkin and sophomore Anna Rogers in the fall. Competing as doubles, the pair advanced to the Round of 16 in the ITA National Fall Championships before narrowly falling to Ole Miss.
On the singles side, the Wolfpack will look for junior Amanda Rebol to continue her strong play. After earning 16 wins last year, she won the Gopher Invitational in the fall while also advancing to the finals of her singles flight at the Rebel Invite.
The lone senior on the squad, Taylor Stenta, picked up seven doubles wins in 2017 and, along with Rebol, advanced to the finals of her singles flight at the Rebel Invite.
In UCLA, the Pack will be matching up against the No. 17 team in the country. Last season, the Bruins finished 14-9 overall with a 7-3 conference mark. The team fell to Pepperdine in the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2017. The Bruins are off to a 1-0 start this season after defeating UC Santa Barbara on Jan. 19.
Kentucky is currently ranked No. 21 in the country and has already competed in the Miami Spring Invite back on Jan. 18.
Northwestern, along with the Wolfpack, is among the schools that received votes in the initial 2018 ITA poll.
The Wolfpack will begin its match against UCLA on Friday, Jan. 26 at 2 p.m. while Northwestern and Kentucky will square off against each other at 10 a.m. the same day. The second day of matches will take place Saturday, Jan. 27, with the Pack facing either Northwestern or Kentucky.
CHRIS MERVIN/ARCHIVE Freshman Amanda Rebol returns service at the Wolfpack Invitational on Sept. 13, 2015. The three-day event featured NC State, Georgia State, Mississippi State and Virginia Tech.
Emanuel McGirt Jr
Correspondent
Pack wrestling aims for another strong ACC showing.
After a dominant showing in its first ACC match against Duke, the NC State wrestling team is looking for continued success in its next matchup against Virginia.
The No. 6 Wolfpack is heading into the game a one-loss team. After a loss to No. 3 Oklahoma State, followed by a bounce back win against Duke, NC State should be ready to roll.
Last week in the Duke win, some of the NC State standouts were sophomore Tommy Cox, redshirt freshman Tariq Wilson, senior Kevin Jack, redshirt senior Beau Donahue, redshirt freshman Hayden Hidlay and redshirt senior Brian Hamann. Other Pack wrestlers also had good showings.
NC State dominated Duke in all phases and finished with a score of 32-6, winning 8 of 10 bouts. Hidlay had the standout performance of the day with a 10-6 defeat of Duke’s Mitch Finesilver.
The Wolfpack now looks to face Virginia in its next matchup on Friday. The Cavaliers will travel to Raleigh for the Pack’s first ACC home match.
Coming off a loss to North Carolina last week, Virginia will be looking for a win and the Cavaliers face a challenging matchup with an experienced Wolfpack team. Virginia had a good start against North Carolina but the Tar Heels proved to be too much to handle, defeating the Cavs 24-15.
Virginia comes in with a record of 3-6, with its most impressive win coming against a 3-11 Fresno State team. Despite the team’s somewhat disappointing record, it finished seventh out of 24 teams in the Southern Scuffle Tournament in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Jan. 1-2. With only two seniors and 16 freshmen and redshirt freshmen, Virginia has a young but talented team that lacks quality experience.
Standout redshirt freshman Louie Hayes and sophomore Jack Mueller lead the way for the Cavaliers in hopes of winning their
LOGAN LABO/ARCHIVE Junior Kevin Jack lunges around a Duke wrestler for a takedown. The NC State wrestling team beat Duke 34-6 in the ACC opener at Reynolds Coliseum on Jan. 11, 2017.
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PAGE 14 • THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018
Women’s basketball aims to continue winning ways
Ethan Barry
Staff Writer
The NC State women’s basketball team returns to action on Thursday night in Winston-Salem to take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, looking to extend its three-game winning streak.
While the Pack has won three in a row, the Deacons are headed the other direction, having lost four in a row. Wake is 10-10 overall and 2-5 in the ACC. NC State is 15-5 overall and 4-3 in the ACC.
Through Jan. 14 (18 games), the Deacs are led by forward Elisa Penna who averages 15.2 points per game and 3.7 rebounds per game. Guard Amber Campbell is the only other player averaging double figures, with 11.4 per game.
As a team, the Deacons shoot 26.8 percent from the 3-point line. Guard Ariel Stephenson has taken exactly one-third of the team’s 3-point attempts, but she is only shooting 24.5 percent. She averages 9.9 points per contest. Forward Alex Sharp leads the team with 8.1 rebounds per game and chips in 9.7 points per game.
The Pack has won four road games so far this season, and will look to make it five on Thursday night on the strength of defense, rebounding and balanced scoring.
The Pack is second in the ACC allowing 56.3 points per game and collecting 43.7 rebounds per game, but ranks first with 28.9 defensive rebounds per game.
NC State has four players averaging double figures led by senior forward Chelsea Nelson with 13 points per game. She also leads the team and is third in the ACC with 9.5 rebounds per game.
Redshirt junior forward Kiara Leslie scores 11.5 points per game, while senior center Akela Maize adds in 10.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.95 blocks per game. Sophomore guard Aislinn Konig averages 10.1 points per game and is the team’s leading 3-point shooter at 36 percent.
Wake Forest is in the bottom half of the ACC, but road wins are always important when it comes to selection time, so this, along with every other favorable road matchup, is an important game for the Pack.
The game tips off at 7 p.m. at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem and can be seen on RSN.
DAVID TRACEY/TECHNICIAN Senior forward Chelsea Nelson drives past a Tulane defender during NC State’s 79-55 win on Dec. 3 at Reynolds Coliseum. Nelson contributed 16 points, three assists, and eight rebounds as the Wolfpack went into winter break at 7-2.
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