NC State volleyball started a mid-week back-to-back series against the UNC-Charlotte 49ers on Tuesday, Sept. 12 in front of a rowdy home crowd at Reynolds Coliseum. The two teams battled throughout the first and second sets, but the Pack pulled away in the third set to close out the match.
The Wolfpack (9-1) came into this match off of a dominant showing at the Bobcat Invitational in Athens, Ohio, finishing the tournament 3-0. Junior opposite hitter Amanda Rice was the tournament MVP and earned a career-high 18 kills in the match against Ohio University. Charlotte (5-5) came to Raleigh hoping to shake off a 2-3 loss to North Florida the previous weekend, but were unable to get past the Pack’s energetic offense.
“[Rice is] just a firecracker,” said sophomore outside hitter Ava Brizard. “Once she gets a hold of a ball, I mean, watch out, she’s gonna put it down. She’s just so powerful and she works so hard day in and day out on her craft and it’s showing up in her games.”
The first set started out rough for the red-and-white and it struggled to establish a significant lead. But when the Pack went on a five-point scoring streak and pushed the score to 11-17, the team never looked back. In the first set, 16 of the NC State’s 25 possible points were scored off of kills from all over the court.
Junior middle blocker Jada Allen took the lead behind the service line, recording two service aces in the first set — the first of the team’s nine. Rice led the Wolfpack’s offense in the first set with five kills, but four other NC State players recorded more than one kill in the first set alone.
The 49ers came out in the second set warmed up and ready to take on the aggressive Pack offense. The second set started similarly to the first, with both teams going back-and-forth early on until Charlotte pulled ahead to establish its largest lead of the night.
“They’re a good serving team…they’re insistent a lot, which makes our job harder,” said assistant coach Jeremiah Gonidakis. “Usually lends itself to close matches, but we’ve been in a lot of close matches this year and our girls have done a nice job of fighting and staying positive and finishing games”.
There were nine scoring ties and four lead changes in the second set, with the Charlotte blockers putting up a strong effort to stop the Pack. Ultimately, NC State came back to win the set on a service ace from graduate setter Kristen McDaniel, finishing with a 25-20 score and taking a 2-0 match lead.
It was in the third set where the Pack was finally able to show its true talent. Starting the set with the 4-1 run — including another ace from McDaniel — helped the team build a comfortable lead. Rice once again put on an impressive all-around performance, racking up five kills and three block assists. NC State pulled away, capitalizing on its momentum and the energy to go on an unanswered 6-0 run and finish the set 25-17.
“It’s a good feeling to know that our hard work is ending in wins, but it doesn’t really mean much,” Gonidakis said. “Tomorrow we play again and next week we play again, and no matter what our record is, anyone can win.”
The red-and-white will stay in Raleigh to take on George Washington on Wednesday, Sept. 13, with the first set scheduled for 6 p.m.
