Despite playing some of its best sets of the early season, the NC State volleyball team couldn’t find a way to win either of its two matches in Puerto Rico at the ACC-SEC Challenge over the weekend.
The Wolfpack (0-5) was unable to win against two of the better teams in the country, No. 3 Florida (4-0) and Auburn (5-1), despite a valiant effort in a five-set thriller against Auburn in the Pack’s second match.
In the first match the Pack got beaten in three sets by the Gators. Florida started off strong in the first set, taking an early 5-1 lead. NC State battled back to make it 16-12, but the Gators were too strong past that point, winning the set 25-17.
The second set showed a better start from the Wolfpack, as it was up 5-3 until the Gators scored eight unanswered points to take an 11-6 lead. Florida closed strong, winning the set 25-16 to take a 2-0 lead on the match.
The third set started with the Gators running out to a 13-7 lead. The Pack cut it to 14-12 and even had an 18-17 lead at one point, but the Gators rallied off of four-straight points and closed the game with a 25-22 win to take the match.
Wolfpack freshman opposite Melissa Evans led the team with 11 kills, her fourth-straight match with double-digit kills. She has yet to record less than 10 kills so far in her collegiate career. She also had a .435 hit percentage and just one error. Junior setter Kylie Pickrell led the team with 26 assists and redshirt sophomore libero Makenzie Kuchmaner led the team with 12 digs.
The second match against Auburn was a much closer affair, as the Pack was unable to close out the Tigers after holding a 2-1 lead in sets, losing in five sets.
State got out to an early lead with a 25-14 first-set win after scoring seven consecutive points to close it out.
The second set was a back and forth affair featuring 11 ties, but ended with the Tigers scoring the final three points to win 25-22.
The third set was dominated by the Pack, who only trailed once after the first point. State won the frame 25-15 powered by an 8-3 streak to close it out and take a 2-1 set lead.
In the fourth set, the two teams battled in an even closer affair that featured 18 ties, including a 19-19 tie. Following that, the teams traded points until Auburn was able to win two straight and take the set 26-24, tying the match at two sets a piece.
The fifth and final set was close early on, with the Pack battling back from a 4-0 deficit to be down just one point. However, State ended up falling 15-9 in the set and 3-2 in the match.
For her second-straight match, Evans led the Pack with 20 kills. Senior outside hitter Julia Brown had 18 kills and 16 digs for her second double-double of the season. Pickrell had 43 assists and 15 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. Kuchmaner had a career-best 26 digs in the game.
NC State returns to action Saturday when the squad takes on UNC-Wilmington and High Point at the High Point Tournament.
