NC State volleyball suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Miami Hurricanes on the road on Friday night.
The Wolfpack (12-9, 7-6 ACC) came into the game looking to redeem itself after a 3-0 home loss to the Boston College Eagles and to prove that it could still make a case for making the NCAA Tournament.
NC State started the first set strong, taking a 3-0 lead. However, Miami (17-7, 8-5 ACC) came striking back, going on a 7-0 run to make it 7-3 in favor of the Canes. The Pack retook the lead late in the set, 20-19, but ultimately lost the set 27-25.
Like the first set, the second set also started strongly for the red-and-white. NC State took a 7-3 lead before Miami went on a run. The Hurricanes had an 11-10 lead before going on a 7-0 run to make it 18-10. NC State couldn’t recover, and Miami pulled away, winning the set 25-20.
Unlike the first two sets, the third served a much more even start between the two teams, with six ties before NC State took an 11-9 lead. The Wolfpack went on to take a 16-11 lead and later had a 20-14 lead, but history repeated itself from the previous two sets. Miami went on an 11-2 run to win the third set 25-22, clinching the match win 3-0.
The biggest contributor to the game for the Wolfpack was senior opposite hitter Amanda Rice. Rice had 19 total attacks and 14 kills during the game. Other players who performed well for NC State included redshirt senior outside hitter Madison Williams and junior outside hitter Ava Brizard. Williams had 22 total attacks and six kills, while Brizard had 27 total attacks and six kills.
As NC State moves forward in the final month of its regular season, there is now very little room for error. A big goal of this team going into the season was breaking the barrier of making the NCAA Tournament, and after its home loss to Boston College last week and the loss tonight, it will need to get a statement win in order to make its dreams a reality.
The Pack will have several more opportunities to make statement wins in the final month of the regular season. The remainder of its schedule includes a home game against No. 1 Pittsburgh, a road game against No. 24 Florida State and a home and away game against No. 10 SMU.
The Wolfpack will play its next game on Sunday when it travels to Tallahassee to play the No. 24 Florida State Seminoles.
