The NC State volleyball team traveled to Winston-Salem to take on No. 22 Pitt. The Wolfpack was swept 3-0 by Pitt, for its third consecutive loss, bringing its record down to 5-7 overall and 4-7 ACC.
None of the Pack’s star players had their usual exceptional performances tonight. Senior Melissa Evans led the team in kills with eight and was second for hitting percentage with .148, but these numbers are nothing like she has typically put up.
The Pack started off dropping the first six points to the Panthers (9-4, 8-4 ACC) before finally getting a point on the board. There was no stopping the Panthers in the first set, who had a 10-point streak in the middle of the set. NC State wasn’t able to score any consecutive points in the first set and ultimately only had six points at the end of it.
To start off the second set, NC State and Pitt traded off on scoring until the Pack took a small 4-2 lead but it did not last long. The Panthers then went on to score the next 13 points before the Pack could try to hold them back. Near the end of the set, NC State was back to trading off scoring with Pitt but was unable to come anywhere close to bridging the gap that Pitt had set and ultimately fell 25-15.
In the third and final set, Pitt was able to get an early start on scoring again, scoring the first two points before the Pack was able to grab a point. NC State was once again held back by a nine-point streak from the Panthers, however the Pack did break 10 points again in this set and had multiple streaks of two or three points in the later part of the third set. However, Pitt’s performance was once again unmatched by NC State, who fell 25-12.
NC State’s numbers in this match were uncharacteristically low, especially after seeing improvement in the last two games against Notre Dame and Miami. The team only notched 18 kills and its average hitting percentage was .000.
Pitt was just better in every way, with 47 kills and an average hitting percentage of .483. Kayla Lund had a match-high 13 kills and Chinaza Ndee led Pitt with three aces and four blocks.
NC State will be back in play on Sunday, March 14 when it takes on Wake Forest at 4 p.m. The match will be broadcast on ACCNX.
