The NC State volleyball team defeated Miami in three straight sets at Reynolds Coliseum on Sunday. It marked NC State’s first sweep since it beat Furman right before the ACC season began.
The Wolfpack’s (7-11, 2-4 ACC) sweep against the Hurricanes (7-7, 3-3 ACC) also marked the team’s first second-set victory in the ACC season, a milestone to show the team’s growth and perseverance. The first set was dominated by an energetic and intense Wolfpack, 25-17. The second and third sets had the Pack down at the beginning of the set but NC State didn’t slip too far behind the Hurricanes.
In the second set, the Pack caught up halfway through the set and soon took the lead. The Pack managed to keep its lead to the very end with a close win after a kill from sophomore outside hitter Jade Parchment sealed a second set for the Pack. The third set was equally close with the score tied at 23 apiece. A kill from redshirt junior middle blocker Jessica Kemp followed by a double block from Kemp and freshman middle blocker Lydia Adam gave the Pack the last two points it needed to secure its second ACC win.
“I thought we did a really, really good job of just being consistent today throughout the whole, entire match,” said head coach Linda Hampton-Keith. “We were having stretches where we would put together a really nice set but we weren’t holding and sustaining it over the course of the match. And now today we saw a really great example of us being able to sustain that over the course of a full match and being down at times too and being able to still find a way to be consistent through those moments and that was a huge change and a moment of growth for us today.”
The game opened with a free point for the Wolfpack when the Hurricanes had a service error. From there, the Pack was aggressive and stayed alert. Parchment saved a tip for senior middle blocker Lauryn Terry to score the kill on the back line.
Redshirt sophomore libero Kaylee Frazier also came back with some newly honed skill set of float serves that would fall before the attack line, throwing the Hurricane’s offense off balance as they tried to recover from the short serves. Frazier also took up a role in helping to set up attacks, giving redshirt freshman setter Nina Sharpton a brief break from sprinting to reach the ball across the court.
The Pack gained momentum and went on a run to lead 16-9. Despite the Hurricanes trying to close the gap with jump serves and an equally oppressive offense, the Pack kept a strong grip on the lead as junior opposite hitter Melissa Evans and sophomore middle blocker Pam Chukwujekwu shut down the Hurricane’s attack, 21-15.
Evans was a leader offensively, having 13 kills and five block assists. Her attacks were well placed, aiming them slightly to the side of her opponent to throw them off and be too slow to react. A kill from Kemp, another offensive leader throughout the game, brought the Pack to set point, 24-16.
Kemp accumulated 13 kills, one block solo and five block assists. The third offensive leader for the Wolfpack against the Hurricanes was Parchment with a strong performance of 12 kills and only two errors for an impressive hitting percentage of 0.500 for a player with a lot of touches.
“We’ve had a lot of really good individual performances but I think that today we all came together and we all did our jobs,” Parchment said. “And this match was an example of what happens when we do our job. And even though I did good in that game [against UNC-Chapel Hill], this means so much more that we got to step away from this with a win.”
The second set saw the Hurricanes start strong to try and get a jumpstart on the Pack. The Pack caught up quickly at nine points when an assist from Parchment set up a quick kill from Kemp.
The Hurricanes were stubborn in giving up the lead and kept the score close to tie again only for Kemp to surprise the Hurricanes with a tip, 13-12. When the Hurricanes tied the score at 16 points, the Wolfpack took a timeout to collect itself and was able to come back to the court calm and collected to prevent letting the second set slip through its grasp.
Despite the close score, the Pack emerged with the 2-0 set advantage, showing the team’s growth in consistency to be able to win the first two sets.
“I also think that because we win the first set, then when we go into the second set we let off when we think that we have it,” Parchment said. “But I think that today was a really good example of us just being consistent with our performance throughout the entire match.”
The final set had the Pack start off quick but the Hurricanes quickly took control as they clearly were getting used to the Pack’s style of play, earning them the lead over the Pack 13-8.
Instead of falling though, the Pack stayed positive and fought back. It took a little while but the Pack managed to completely close the gap 20-20 and then set out to take the final set it needed to end the game.
“As we play more and more games and get more and more experience under our belt, everyone is getting more comfortable on the court whether they’re middle, outside, right side,” Kemp said.
Elaborating on Kemp’s statement Hampton-Keith explained the benefits of players like Kemp playing in multiple positions.
“One of the struggles we’ve had to overcome is we’ve had a lot of injuries,” Hampton-Keith said. “We have had a lot of moving pieces and parts so we’re still in that process of trying to find that right combination. And that’s what having a consistent performance like today just solidifies that. There were times where Jess [Kemp] is on the right, sometimes she’s in the middle and so the fact that she can be called upon to do whatever the team needs in those moments, again that was what was really a big moment of growth for us today.”
Wolfpack will side out against Virginia at Memorial Gym this Friday at 6:30 p.m.
