NC State volleyball fell 3-2 to Duke Wednesday at Cameron Indoor Stadium in an exciting five-set match. NC State took both the first and fourth set with the same score 26-24. Duke claimed the third and fourth sets 25-14 and 25-15 respectively, and the fifth set 15-8.
The Wolfpack (19-11, 14-5 ACC) increased its losing streak to three after facing Duke (18-12, 10-9 ACC), as the Blue Devils took revenge against the Pack’s 3-0 win earlier this season.
In the first set, the Wolfpack and Blue Devils were close in score until Duke broke away at 8-4 and maintained a lead for the next few points before the Pack retaliated and came back at 11-11.
The Wolfpack remained a couple points behind the Blue Devils for the majority of the set but was close on their heels until the Pack overcame Duke and took back the lead for the first time since the beginning of the match at 19-18.
From there the Wolfpack fought hard to reach 25 points first but the Blue Devils did not allow an easy win and kept the game close at 25-24.
The Pack managed to take the first set with one more point at 26-24.
Seniors Julia Brown and Kaitlyn Kearney were the only two members of the Wolfpack to score double-digit points this game with 21.5 and 13 points respectively.
The beginning of the second started out similarly to the first with Duke leading 8-4.
Duke continued to rack up points as the Pack struggled to close the ever-growing point deficit. The gap was tripled at 15-5 as it appeared that the Wolfpack’s tendency to pull through large holes was failing the team this time around.
Duke easily finished the set comfortably at 25-14, setting the stage for the third set.
The Wolfpack returned with fight and determination and kept up with the Blue Devils until they pulled ahead of the Pack again at 16-10.
Brown had six kills in the third set out of her 19 kills throughout the game. Brown led the entire game in kills, attacks and points.
The match continued until Duke reached a 20-15 lead where the Wolfpack stagnated in scoring, and Duke took the set 25-15, pushing the Wolfpack into a corner.
With a two-set advantage for Duke, NC State faced a mental obstacle after two consecutive losses with a third one on the horizon.
The score of the fourth set resembled the first set as the two teams stayed competitive with neither taking a definite lead.
The Wolfpack did give up a five-point gap at 20-15 but the team quickly came back, tying with Duke 23-23. Although it was close, the Wolfpack took the fourth set 26-24, just like its first set.
The final set consisted of Duke taking the lead with the Wolfpack keeping it close at 8-7, but it was futile as Duke kept the lead the entire set and managed to stall the Pack’s scoring at eight points. Duke effectively took the last and final set 15-8, sealing its victory against the Wolfpack.
Overall, NC State was dealt a tough loss. The Wolfpack was outscored as the Blue Devils had 63 kills compared to the Pack’s 46. Duke also had twice as many aces as the Wolfpack at 4-2. Defensively, Duke dealt out 22 blocks while NC State managed to only block 15 attacks. Both teams had a large number of digs but Duke lead with 95 digs while NC State had 77.
NC State will side out one last time this season against Wake Forest Friday in Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum at 1:30 p.m.
