The NC State volleyball team wrapped up regular season play on Saturday, as the team suffered a 3-0 sweep against No. 21 Duke. With the loss, the Wolfpack finishes its season at 16-14 with a 5-13 mark in conference play, marking it the team’s worst season since 2009.
The Pack entered Saturday’s game riding on the momentum of an impressive comeback victory over Wake Forest Wednesday. After dropping the first two sets of the match, the State squad took the Demon Deacons to the wire in a 29-27 third-set win.
“At first, we weren’t in a rhythm,” head coach Bryan Bunn said. “It took us a couple of sets to get things going.”
From there, it was all State, as the team hit .364 and .400 in the final two sets to take the match in five sets. Senior outside hitter Dariyan Hopper was a big part of the Pack’s turnaround, notching 16 of her season-high 20 kills in the last three sets.
“Dariyan turned it on in the final three sets,” Bunn said. “Once Dariyan stepped it up, we got in a rhythm and played really well.”
The win avenged the Pack’s 3-2 loss at Winston-Salem earlier in the season. The Demon Deacons snapped a 12-game State win streak, the second-longest in school history.
Duke was also on a hot streak heading into Saturday’s match, having won four of its last five matches, with its only loss coming to No. 7 UNC-Chapel Hill. The Blue Devils were hungry for a win at Reynolds Coliseum, as the team’s only conference loss in ACC came at the hands of the Pack.
The Pack’s three seniors—libero Alston Kearns, middle blocker Alesha Wilson and Hopper—were honored prior to the beginning of the match. All three have been a part of the State team for four years, each leaving their mark on the team, having led their team to its second NCAA tournament appearance ever in 2012.
State did well to stifle Duke in the early moment of the first set, jumping out to a quick 6-2 lead. However, the Devils quickly responded with a 12-3 of their own to distance themselves from the Pack to take a 1-0 lead.
Hopper used the emotion of the day to her advantage, recording a stellar first set with five of her team-high 12 kills. Saturday marked the senior’s third-straight match with double-digit kills, a fitting way to end her career with the Pack.
Despite Hopper’s consistent play, the State team never recovered from that run, dropping the second and third sets, 25-15, to concede a 3-0 sweep. After falling behind 2-1 in the second set, the Pack did not lead for the remainder of the match.
Despite lackluster performances on Saturday, Kearns and Wilson will leave their marks on the State program. Kearns ranks fifth all-time in digs with 1,513 for her career, while Wilson is tied for the second-most single-game blocks with 11.
With Hopper, Wilson and Kearns, all large parts of the State rotation, moving on from the team after this season, the Pack must look to its young stars to lead the way in the future.
Both junior Tanna Aljoe and sophomore Maggie Speaks will be returning at the setter position, and the leadership of the duo will be crucial for the young team in the 2015 season.
On offense, freshman middle blocker Kaitlyn Kearney was one of the Pack’s top options this season, leading the team in kills on the season with 277. In the coming years, the young blocker will only improve.
