Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Madison Williams recorded a career-high 17 kills, but the NC State volleyball team fell on the road against Clemson 3-1 Sunday, Nov. 13.
After falling behind 2-0, the Wolfpack (13-13, 7-8 ACC) stayed alive with a 25-17 win in set 3, but the Tigers (12-15, 3-12 ACC) won a tight fourth set 25-22 to clinch the match.
The first set was very much back-and-forth, with both teams trading the lead. The Pack took its first lead at 10-9 and had a 21-19 lead late in the set, but the Tigers went on a 3-0 run, winning six of the final eight points to take a 1-0 set lead.
The second set was also tight to begin with, but Clemson started to get some separation with a 4-0 run to go up 15-11. The Tigers maintained a comfortable lead through the rest of the set, winning 25-17 to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
Needing to get on the board, the Pack found a way in set 3. Clemson had an early lead at 12-8, but NC State went on a 10-2 run to take an 18-14 lead. The Tigers closed the gap to make it 18-17, but the Pack scored the final seven points to make it a 2-1 match.
Clemson began the fourth set by scoring the first four points and held a lead for the majority of the first half of the set, but the Pack finally took the lead at 15-14, and it remained razor tight. NC State again took the lead 22-21, needing just three points to force a winner-take-all fifth set, but the Tigers scored the last four points to earn a 3-1 win.
Despite the loss, a notable bright spot for the Pack was the play of Williams, who had arguably her best match in a red and white uniform since transferring from Texas. Also finishing with double digits in kills was graduate opposite hitter Vanja Bukilic with 10. Graduate libero Priscilla Hernandez led all players with 21 digs, sophomore middle blocker Jada Allen tied the match-high for blocks with six and senior setter Kristen McDaniel finished with a team-leading 22 assists.
As a team, NC State finished with 48 kills compared to 53 from the Tigers despite having a hitting percentage of .189 to Clemson’s .174.
Next up, the Pack returns to Raleigh for its final two home matches against Notre Dame and Virginia. The match against the Irish will be Saturday, Nov. 19 at 5 p.m., and the match against the Cavaliers will be Wednesday, Nov. 23 at 3 p.m.
