The NC State volleyball team swept Virginia Tech on Thursday, Oct. 29 in Reynolds Coliseum. After a tightly contested first set, the Wolfpack kept its foot on the gas to dominate in the final two sets.
This victory marks the third in a row for the Wolfpack (3-4) after winning two games at Virginia and dropping matches against Duke and UNC.
“It’s not easy, everything that’s going on, it’s not easy for them, for us, for anybody,” said head coach Luka Slabe. “But we tell them, ‘nobody cares.’ I think it’s advantageous for us to be here, struggling with everything that’s going on, because that’s going to make us stronger.”
The match started fairly balanced, with the lead only stretching to three points either way. Although evenly matched, the Pack suffered four service errors in the first set, contributing to the close score.
Virginia Tech led by three with a 6-3 score towards the beginning, but the score stayed close until the Pack got its own three point lead, boasting a 23-20 score. Junior middle blocker Pam Chukwujekwu scored the 24th point for the Pack but the Hokies matched it, requiring more than 25 points. Chukwujekwu ended the set with an ace to win it 28-26.
“Having that first set and having that win, we said, ‘Okay, we can’t let it off. We can’t let off the gas. We just have to keep going,” said senior opposite hitter Melissa Evans. “We really just wanted to have good starts.”
The second set was all Wolfpack. After an 8-1 start, the Pack kept a consistent lead, ranging from three points up to seven. Sophomore middle/right side hitter Lydia Adam had three kills in the set, including two big ones at the end of the set, propelling the Pack to win 25-18 and take a 2-0 set lead.
The final set was a doozy for State. The Hokies kept the score even until a 4-0 run by the Pack made the score 7-4. Virginia Tech would try to catch up, bringing the score back to within one with a 8-7 score. The Pack then rattled off 10 unanswered points that ultimately won the set 25-14.
Evans and junior opposite hitter Jade Parchment both tallied 16 kills this match, and the duo was all over the floor. So far this season the pair have proven to be the feature hitters, gathering 32 of the 44 kills for the Pack.
Prior to the match, Evans received a trophy to commemorate her 1000 career kills in the red and white of the Wolfpack.
The Pack will finish its regular season against Virginia Tech on Friday, Oct. 30 in Reynolds Coliseum. The match will start at 5 p.m. and be broadcasted on ACC Network Extra.
“Virginia Tech is going to come back tomorrow. Okay, 3-0, it sounds nice, but they’re going to come back tomorrow,” Slabe said. “Our job is just half-done, Virginia Tech is going to play much better, that means we’re not going to have such great passes, most likely….I’m expecting a dog fight in the second match.”
