Just one win away from tying the school record for consecutive wins at 13, the NC State volleyball team dropped its matchup with Wake Forest on Friday night. The loss marked the Wolfpack’s first since Aug. 29.
Despite jumping out to a two-set lead, State was unable to seal the deal against a Demon Deacon squad that came out on fire in the last three sets.
“I’m kind of left wondering what happened,” senior middle blocker Alesha Wilson said.
Errors set the tone early in the first set for Wake: six of the Wolfpack’s first nine points came off of Deacon miscues. State was able to secure the first set, 25-20, with ease.
Freshman middle blocker Kaitlyn Kearney made her presence felt early in the second set of the match, notching three of the Pack’s first five kills. Kearney paced her team in kills on the night with 16; she also recorded 12 blocks.
“She was very good offensively,” head coach Bryan Bunn said. “She had 12 block assists. That’s what a middle should do when we play a five-set match: You have to get blocks.”
Despite a close set, the Pack never relinquished its lead after going ahead, 2-1. A kill by Kearney sealed the deal, giving the Pack a 25-22 victory and a two-set lead going into intermission.
However, the Deacons were not finished. Wake got off to a hot start out the intermission, delivering five straight kills on its way to a 6-2 start. The Deacons did not let up, and State was forced to call a timeout after falling behind, 13-7.
“I have to give it to Wake Forest,” Wilson said. “They stepped up their game and made fewer errors.”
The Pack battled back to tie the match at 20 apiece. The two squads battled back and forth, but the Deacons eventually edged the State squad, 27-25.
At 24-22, State found itself serving for match point. However, the team committed an error on the serve, and proceeded to give Wake three of its final four points on errors.
“You can’t do that on the road,” Bunn said. “You have to take care of the ball.”
Wake rode its momentum into the fourth set. After taking the lead at 3-2, the Deacons never looked back, taking the set, 25-21, to tie the match at two sets apiece.
Senior outside hitter Jazmin Russell led Wake in the set, notching six of her game-high 23 kills in the fourth. Russell had an all-around excellent showing for the Deacons, recording 10 digs, two blocks and a service ace in addition to her stellar offensive performance.
“We knew she was out there, we just didn’t do a very good job of blocking her,” Bunn said. “We were straight up on our blocks, didn’t press over at all, and she kept going straight through our hands. The defense had no opportunity to play defense.”
The Pack came out fierce in the final set of the match, jumping out to a 9-5 lead. Wilson and fellow seniors Dariyan Hopper and Rachel Buckley each recorded two of the first six kills.
Wake battled back to tie the match at 10 apiece. In the closing moments of the match, Russell exploded for three straight kills, lifting her team to a 15-12 victory in the set and the Deacons’ second conference win of the season.
“We gave them the match,” Bunn said. “We started making errors, and we were tentative. We weren’t as aggressive, and they became the aggressor.”
The State squad followed up on its heartbreaking loss the following night at Virginia Tech, falling at the hands of the Hokies, 3-1. The match marked the first time in which the Pack did not lead at all during the contest this season.
The Wolfpack will continue its road trip on Friday, as it travels to Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech. From there, the team will travel to Tallahassee for a Sunday matchup with Florida State, a team the Pack has not defeated since 1999.
