N.C. State hadn’t defeated its rivals from Chapel Hill since 1997, and when the two teams met in Reynolds Coliseum last night with identical conference records it seemed like State finally had a chance to end its skid against Carolina. By night’s end, however, the Tar Heels had reminded the Wolfpack how it has dominated the series as of late as the Heels rained down 58 kills on State and defeated the Pack 3-1. UNC-Chapel Hill has won the past 21 contests against the Pack.
“There’s always pride at stake when you play the North Carolina schools,” coach Charita Stubbs said of the in-state rivalry. “But the reality of it is we just didn’t come ready to play.”
The loss dropped the Wolfpack to 9-13 overall and 3-4 in the ACC while Carolina improved to 10-8 and 4-3. State’s nine wins this season is still the most since a 10-21 record in 2004 and the team’s three conference wins are the most since 1999 when the Pack went 5-11 in ACC play.
The Tar Heels led the entire way during the first set and capitalized on Pack attacking errors. State connected on just six kills in the first stanza compared to UNC-Chapel Hill’s 16. A -.023 hitting percentage by the Wolfpack allowed the Heels to grab the early advantage with a 25-14 win. State pieced together a .119 effort in the second set, but the Heels again out-hit the red and white with a .341 clip and took game two 25-16. Despite a rowdy Reynolds crowd, the Pack came out flat against its rivals said freshman middle blocker Margaret Salata.
“That was the first Carolina-State game that I had been to and coincidentally I [was] in it,” Salata, an Illinois native, said. “It was really fun to see the fans and the rivalry and I thought for sure it would pump us up even more and motivate us even more to beat them, but when it came to game time it just wasn’t there.”
The Pack recovered in game three thanks in large part to a breakdown in the Tar Heel attack. Freshman Kelly Wood collected 12 digs as the visiting attackers found the hardwood only 10 times. State took the lead at 16-14 and never trailed again, collecting the win 25-23 on a Salata kill with the Wolfpack faithful on their feet.
“The crowd definitely pumped us up and gave us the energy to push forward and push for the last few points,” sophomore Nikki Sweet said. “We definitely couldn’t have done it without their energy.”
State rattled off five quick points in set four to lead 5-1, but the Tar Heels took control of the set at 14-14 and collected the match-clinching win 25-16. Salata said the Pack’s passing broke down and the trickle-down resulted in bad sets and off balance attacks.
“I don’t know if it was nerves or what it was exactly but defense fell apart and it caused our offense to fall apart,” Salata said. “It felt like we were very scattered.”
State avoided being swept by Carolina for the first time since 2005 when the Heels needed five sets to defeat the Wolfpack in Raleigh. State will travel to the Sunshine State this weekend and take on ACC foes Miami on Friday and Florida State on Saturday.
