The NC State volleyball team swept Wake Forest 3-0 Friday night in Reynolds Coliseum for its fifth-straight ACC win to open up the season.

After what initially appeared to be a nail biter, the Pack (10-6, 5-0 ACC) went on to sweep the Demon Deacons (10-7, 2-3 ACC) 3-0 despite a very long first set.

The first set began rather evenly between the two sides. Despite succumbing to an early 2-0 deficit, the Pack clawed back into the match levelling the score at 5-5.

“We started off slow,” senior Julia Brown said. “Our service struggled at the beginning, but throughout the game we really stepped that up.”

From there, the score swung back and forth like a pendulum with both teams continuing to exchange the lead.

Eventually however, the Demon Deacons were able to create a small separation between themselves and the Pack. leaping out to a 22-18 advantage.

Eager to prevent the set from slipping away, the Pack finally found it’s footing, quickly narrowing the gap down to a manageable 22-21.

Through this momentum, the Pack was able to tie things at 24-24 and force extra play, with a two-point margin required to win the set. After trading the lead back and forth, the Pack was eventually able to complete its comeback, winning the set by a high score of 32-30.

“At that point, it became game management and sub management,” head coach Linda Hampton-Keith said. “What I’m really proud of is we kept staying aggressive and kept executing plays at the end to make a difference. We could have tanked that first set but we didn’t and we gutted out a 32-30 win and that was awesome.”

Stats for the Pack included an impressive .441 hitting percentage. Additionally, State was able to limit the Deacons to a .342 percentage.

The trio of senior Kaitlyn Kearney, junior Teni Sopitan and graduate student Bree Bailey each tallied five kills as well. Junior Kylie Pickrell also totalled 15 assists.

Utilizing its momentum from the first set, the Pack was able to accumulate an early 4-1 lead over the Deacons in the second set.

However, this didn’t prevent the Deacons from clawing back into things. The Pack’s advantage disappeared as quickly as it formed. The scores were once again level at 5-5.

Despite this temporary effort, fortunes soon turned back into the Wolfpack’s favor. Capitalizing on a few Deacon errors, the Pack regained control of the match, extending things back out to a 12-7 lead.

Continuing to push and pressure the net, the Pack further hit its stride. Brown also found her rhythm picking up five quick kills.

The Pack maintained its smooth play to close out the second set by a comfortable margin of 25-18.

During this set, the Pack mitigated the Deacons to a .054 hitting percentage, meanwhile, State remained steady at a .370 hitting percentage. Pickrell continued her form as well, picking up 10 more assists and one kill.

The third set began much as the second one ended with the Pack springing out to an early 8-3 lead.

Midway through the third set, the Pack extended its lead out to 14-8. This didn’t prevent a mid-match surge from the Deacons who closed to within two at 15-13.

However, once again, the Pack was able to regain focus as it extended its lead out to 20-13.

In the end, the Pack continued its forward trajectory, sealing the third set 25-18 and taking the match 3-0.

“In the second and third, we really picked up our serve-receive game,” Kearney said. “In the first set we missed a few serves and we picked it up in the second and third and dominated towards the end.”

Despite a hitting percentage of .167, the Pack still accumulated 10 kills and forced eight Deacon errors during the third set of play.

Game leaders for the Wolfpack were Brown with 12 kills, Sopitan with 11 kills and Pickrell with 33 assists.

Up next, the Pack will face Duke Sunday in Reynolds Coliseum in another ACC match.