The NC State volleyball team gained its eighth ACC win Sunday, hosting Virginia Tech and winning 3-1. It was a hard-earned victory for NC State and the team remains undefeated in ACC play.
The Hokies (7-12, 1-7 ACC) gave the Wolfpack (13-6, 8-0 ACC) a run for its money. The last time the Pack gave up a set before Sunday was on Sept. 29 against Georgia Tech. The Hokies took the first set in overtime, but the Pack dealt the Hokies a hard blow in the second set with a nine-point victory. The Pack picked up the third and fourth sets for the win but not without a long fight.
“I thought we did a really good job towards the end of the match,” said head coach Linda Hampton-Keith. “We dug ourselves in that hole again in the fourth set and somehow, someway we continue when we get down like that we just take one play at a time.”
Pack senior Julia Brown scored the first two points of the match, but Virginia Tech quickly came back with two points of its own to tie the score 2-2.
Virginia Tech proved to have a powerful offense similar to the Wolfpack, as the Hokies’ spikes gained them early points against State. The Pack decided to return the favor as graduate transfer Bree Bailey went for the kill, tying the game 7-7.
Virginia Tech bounced ahead but the Pack clawed back. A kill by sophomore Lauryn Terry tied up the set 19-19. Terry didn’t stop there as she scored again, helping the Pack reach 20 first, leading the Hokies by one point.
The back-and-forth continued to 23-23 when NC State took a timeout right before either team could reach set point.
The Pack reached set point first, leading 24-23, but the Hokies called their own timeout to shake the Pack’s momentum. Virginia Tech tied things at 24-24 out of the timeout, forcing overtime in the first set.
After shutting down Pack senior Julia Brown twice in a row, the first set was taken by Virginia Tech 26-24, giving the Hokies a 1-0 advantage.
“Credit to Virginia Tech, they did a really nice job. We had a heck of a time getting them out of system,” Hampton-Keith said. “They were passing really, really well and much better than we were anticipating.”
The second set started out evenly, but the Pack was able to eventually jump out to a 17-9 lead. It wasn’t long after that the Pack reached 24-16 for set point. The Pack earned its last point for a final score of 25-16, a whopping nine-point difference and tying the match at 1-1.
The Pack broke away 7-5 in the third set and continued to increase its lead on the Hokies until Virginia Tech called a timeout at 15-10. Although the Pack still held the lead 17-15, the gap is starting to close in from their comfort zone.
The Hokies closed the gap to 17-15 coming out of the timeout, but State again pulled away thanks to strong play from Brown, junior Kylie Pickrell and junior Teni Sopitan, who had a strong spike to reach set point at 24-20. The Wolfpack took the third set 25-20 to go up 2-1.
“I thought overall it was a great match for us to come together from being so far behind,” Bailey said. “We still have a lot of work to do but it showed a lot of perseverance.”
Virginia Tech took control of the fourth set 10-3, but the Pack tenaciously closed the gap to 11-8. State continued to fight back, and two consecutive kills from Bailey made it just a 14-12 Hokies lead.
The Pack managed to tie things up at 16-16 and regained its confidence to jump out to a 23-19 lead. The Pack continued to score, reaching match point 24-20.
Bailey scored the last point to make it 25-21, sealing the Pack’s eighth-straight ACC victory.
“A point’s a point and I was glad to finish the game in four so it was great,” Bailey said.
The team will be taking to the road this Wednesday to face ACC rival UNC-Chapel Hill.
