NC State volleyball lost 3-0 against Florida State Friday night at Tully Gym in Tallahassee, Florida. This marks the team’s second ACC loss on the road and third ACC loss of the season.
The Wolfpack (8-7, 2-3 ACC) lost three straight sets against the Seminoles (8-7, 3-2 ACC), its first ACC sweep of the season. The first set was a bad loss at 25-17. The second and third sets were closer, and both were lost 25-22.
In the first set, the Wolfpack was off to a very slow start and failed to take the lead from Florida State, but did manage to tie up the set six times, the last tie being 14-14.
The Wolfpack had nine kills in the first set; six were from sophomore outside hitter Melissa Evans and senior middle blocker Teni Sopitan, as the pair had three kills a piece.
After that the Pack lost its grip on the set and tried to hold on by calling both of its timeouts at 19-15 and 21-15, but both attempts were futile as Florida State reached set point at 24-16.
Defensively, the Pack was outblocked 5-1 to in the first set and 11-2 for the entire match.
The second set saw more control for the Wolfpack as it traded the lead continuously with Florida State and didn’t allow a greater margin than three points at any point throughout the set, keeping it a close match.
The Wolfpack had tied the game 18-18 before the lead fell into Florida State’s possession for the rest of the match.
Evans had 12 kills, which led the team. Sopitan followed with 10 kills of her own. The two were the only players from the Pack to reach double digit kills.
The third set had the Pack trailing early 7-4 and continued to be behind Florida State for the first half of the last set.
The Pack had its chance to turn the set around in its favor when the team went on a 4-0 run to tie it at 11-11.
Florida State responded to the Wolfpack’s advances by taking a timeout that put an end to the momentum the Pack had gathered.
The Wolfpack hurt itself with 19 errors, nine more than the errors that Florida State had. Seven errors came from the service line.
The Wolfpack will finish up its road trip against Miami Sunday at 1 p.m. at Knight Sports Complex.
