NC State volleyball was dominant in its 3-1 over Virginia at Reynolds Coliseum Sunday afternoon. The Wolfpack overmatched the Cavaliers in the first and third set as it came out on top.
The Wolfpack (7-3, 2-0 ACC) ended its weekend on a great note, coming off a monstrous 3-0 win against Virginia Tech on Friday. Its mentality and grit throughout its duel with the Cavaliers (11-2, 1-1 ACC) showed Cal and Stanford what to expect when they battle it out next week.
“I just loved our fight,” said junior outside hitter Ava Brizard. “There were moments where we were down but, as opposed to maybe some earlier games in the season, we were able to play our way out of it. Our energy and attitude were really good and consistent, and we were able to dig ourselves out of holes that are going to be helpful when we play tough teams like Stanford and Cal.”
Winning six out of seven sets this weekend, the Pack now has momentum going into two tough matchups this week.
“When you have young athletes like this, NCAA athletes, it’s all about momentum,” said head coach Luka Slabe. “They feel good, they’re probably going to play good, you know?”
Brizard led the Pack today with 16 kills and 17.5 points as she continued to fight even when it wasn’t going the team’s way in the second set. Just behind Brizard was senior opposite hitter Amanda Rice with 15 kills, helping her team rally in the victory.
Brizard didn’t want to take all the credit, making it known that the group all had an impact in the team’s win. However, the leadership role she plays for her team allows them to succeed even when things start to get tough.
She fed off of how the team was playing throughout the whole match. When her teammates need her most, they turn to Brizard, and the junior knows what kind of responsibility that is during the big moments.
“I’ve never been afraid of those big moments throughout my entire life,” Brizard said. “I’ve always wanted to be in those moments because that’s where the magic happens. … I know it gives my teammates confidence when I’m confident and hopefully it will calm them down. I’ll always step up when I need to for my teammates.”
From start to finish, Brizard led the charge, with her most dominant set coming right out of the gate. In the first set, Brizard led the Pack with six kills for eight attacks, having a 0.750 hitting percentage.
Senior middle blocker Jada Allen also contributed to the Pack’s win, leading the team in blocks with 2.5 and had a 0.313 hitting percentage. She helped the Pack dominate on both sides of the ball, making sure it stayed on target with each point.
In the first set, the Wolfpack rally accumulated nine attacks and eight digs as it was a back and forth match for both teams. The Pack started to take control with five points in a row in the middle of the set, but it continued to go both ways. It was close until the later stages, as both teams combined for 40 digs, but the Pack came out on top, taking a 1-0 lead.
This is where things started to get rough for the Pack with a medley of service errors halting its momentum, allowing the Hoos to capitalize with a 12-7 lead to force an NC State timeout. Even with a strong rally to put the Pack within one point, coming back from an 18-11 deficit, communication errors and mistakes doomed the team, causing it to drop the second set 25-20.
However, the Pack made it known it was not ready to go down without a fight.
“[When] you win the first set with pretty good control and then suddenly fall off a cliff, you always worry how they’re going to respond,” Slabe said. “I know my team — they usually respond well, and that’s what they did again.”
Even though the second set didn’t go its way, the Pack did not let that affect its momentum going into the third set. NC State developed an early lead that it held onto until the end when Virginia tried to make a comeback. After two NC State timeouts, the team was able to regather, allowing it to close the third set 25-21.
Up until 12-11 in the fourth set, the two teams went back and forth never falling behind the other by more than two points. Then, Brizard stepped up with two consecutive kills.
In the fourth set alone, Brizard had six kills with all of them coming at times when NC State was extending its lead further and further past the Cavaliers. Her game-winning block put an exclamation on her performance and the program’s 200th win.
The Wolfpack continues its ACC stretch on the road, traveling to Stanford on Friday at 10 p.m. EST.
