Returning from its Florida road trip, NC State volleyball took care of business in its 3-0 sweep of Tobacco Road rival Wake Forest, extending to an 8-2 home record and winning 10 of its last 11 matchups against the Demon Deacons.
“At home, the atmosphere and the fans make you want to do so good for them, the people who love and respect that always come out for us,” said senior middle blocker Jada Allen. “It always feels good, not just to get the win, but also to win for the people who support us.”
Though Wake Forest led in attacks, it couldn’t find an answer for the trio of senior opposite hitter Amanda Rice and junior outside hitters Courtney Bryant and Ava Brizard as they combined for 28 of the Pack’s 40 kills.
The Wolfpack (13-10, 8-7 ACC) entered the match on a three-game losing streak — a detrimental effect on a team vying for a spot in the postseason. Nonetheless, NC State had a hot opening to the first set, taking the first three points. But Wake Forest (13-13, 5-10) rallied to push to a 17-16 stalemate halfway through the set. Unfazed, the Wolfpack went on an 8-3 run in which four separate players recorded a kill to close the curtains on set one.
By set two, NC State has complete control over the momentum, taking an early 8-2 lead all from two service aces and six different errors from Wake Forest. Though the Demon Deacons began to make a comeback offensively, they couldn’t stop hurting themselves as another three-straight errors gave the Wolfpack an 11-6 lead. The steady back-and-forth continued, but eventually, NC State pulled away for a 25-17 win and a 2-0 match lead.
Whether it was overconfidence or pure exhaustion, something changed for the Wolfpack between the second and third sets. Contrary to the openings of its first two sets, the Pack allowed Wake Forest to jump to a 9-2 advantage. Sloppy errors contributed to over a third of the Demon Deacon’s early lead, forcing head coach Luka Slabe to call a timeout and get his team back in the right mindset.
“We had to go back to what we do and what we train,” said assistant coach Jeremiah Gonidakis. “There were of couple uncharacteristic plays that allowed them to get to that point. So hey, let’s do what we do best and play NC State volleyball and we’ll be just fine. Don’t do anything spectacular, just play our volleyball one play at a time and take care of business.”
NC State responded, taking five of the next six points, but still couldn’t gain a lead as Wake Forest continued to hold a two-point lead. The Wolfpack managed to push ties at 16-16, 17-17 and 23-23 but couldn’t muster enough offensive power to jump ahead. Finally, a patented left-handed kill from Rice gave NC State its first lead of the game at 24-23. But it was held for moments as Wake Forest fought back for a 25-24 lead.
It looked as though the match was heading to a fourth set after Bryant hit the ball out of bounds. However, Slabe challenged the call and after further review, the call was overturned and ruled as a deflection off of Wake Forest. The ruling completely flipped the momentum of the match, and NC State used it to secure the final two points of the game, taking a 27-25 set three and match-clinching victory.
“We had to hold ourselves accountable,” Allen said. “Think about what we’ve been talking about for weeks. It’s doing the little things right. Once we addressed it and brought it up, we fixed it in that moment and picked it up from there.”
Though a sweep looks good on paper, the Wolfpack looked far from the dominant team it had been just a month earlier. There’s much to do with just five games left — including three top-10 matchups — if NC State wants to clinch a playoff berth.
“We got to take care of that stuff in practice and grind one day at a time,” Gonidakis said. “If we play NC State volleyball, we’ll do what we need to do. I believe that.”
Next up, the Wolfpack travels to Winston-Salem for a rematch against Wake Forest on Saturday at 7 p.m.
