The NC State volleyball team split its weekend matches, notching an exciting win against Notre Dame and dropping a heartbreaker against nationally ranked Louisville.
The Wolfpack advances to 14-10 (3-9 ACC) while Notre Dame is 6-17 (1-10 ACC) and Louisville is 17-5 (11-1 ACC) following the contests.
The Pack started slowly Friday night against the Fighting Irish in Carmichael Gym, trailing two sets to none. NC State picked up the pace and won the final three sets to claim the match 3-2 (23-25, 22-25, 25-18, 25-19, 16-14).
“The first two sets were rough, but then we started fighting and had a lot of energy and passion,” junior libero Rachel Eppley said. “It felt awesome because everyone was on the same page, and everyone wanted to win.”
Sophomore Julia Brown had a career-high 18 kills, and Eppley tallied a career-best 32 digs against Notre Dame.
It was back and forth as the Wolfpack traded points with the Irish for control in the first two sets. State narrowly missed the set point both times.
State dominated the third set 25-18 and pulled out a 25-19 win in the fourth.
Notre Dame started the fifth off with a service error and the Wolfpack used it as an advantage, winning 16-14 to take the match.
“I was just trying to get it to whoever was ready and was up,” freshman setter Becky Porter said. “Everyone was killing it though, so I felt that I could get it to everyone tonight.”
Porter contributed 42 assists in the match. Sophomore Perry Ramsey came out strong with her third double-double of the season, tallying 15 kills and 10 digs. Freshman Blayke Hranicka matched Ramsey in kills.
NC State returned to Carmichael Gym to play No. 23 Louisville Sunday afternoon.
The Wolfpack started the first set strong against Louisville, but the Cardinals pulled off a 25-23 win.
The Cardinals pushed early on in the second set to take a 12-6 lead over the Pack. Louisville beat the Pack to point 20. Sophomore Kaitlyn Kearney made a kill, edging the Pack to 12-20, and Brown blocked to make it 15-22. Hranicka pitched in with a kill at 18 but State couldn’t stop the Cardinals from taking the set 25-18.
It was a difficult third set as NC State fought to claim the lead. The Wolfpack held out for half the set and beat the Cardinals to point 10. Louisville then edged the Pack five points to control the scoreboard 16-11. The score tied seven times as NC State tried to prevent a Louisville run. Cardinals took the set 25-18 and the match 3-0.
“They’re a good team and they don’t make many errors,” head coach Bryan Bunn said. “We weren’t aggressive enough. They [Louisville] were in system way too much, and they were able to side out too easy.”
Porter made her fourth start as setter this season and tallied 31 assists and nine digs, just missing her first double-double. Hranicka and Brown both put up 10 points in kills.
“We’ve still got eight conference games left,” Brown said. “We’re learning from our mistakes and will be taking it into practice this week. We need to serve tougher and put up more blocks.”
