After a thrilling 3-2 win in its first game against Notre Dame last weekend, the NC State volleyball team fell to the Fighting Irish 3-0 on Friday, Nov. 12.

The Pack (14-12, 8-7 ACC) struggled to keep up with the Fighting Irish (11-13, 8-6 ACC) in all aspects. NC State’s hitting percentage was .068 in the match, compared to Notre Dame’s .211.

Notre Dame didn’t even give the Pack a chance to stretch its legs, jumping out to an early lead. NC State’s longest scoring streak of the first set was four consecutive points, however the Fighting Irish were already miles ahead and won the set 25-16.

The Pack earned the first point of the second set and put up a decent fight for the beginning of the set, holding a 7-3 lead at one point. However, once Notre Dame overtook NC State, the Fighting Irish took off and continued to dominate the match. The Wolfpack just could not hold Notre Dame back, despite efforts by redshirt junior outside hitter Taylor Rowland and freshman middle blocker Jada Allen. Notre Dame won the second set 25-17.

The Fighting Irish took a quick five-point lead before NC State was able to get anything going in the third set. The Wolfpack kept things closer than the other sets, but was not able to overtake the Fighting Irish. 

Rowland led NC State in points and attacks, but with a couple individual negative hitting percentages, the Pack struggled offensively. As a team, the Wolfpack trailed Notre Dame in nearly every statistic.

With just three ACC matches left in its schedule, the Pack sits just above .500 in both its conference and overall records. With all three of the Wolfpack’s remaining matches coming against teams below it in the conference standings, and with two of those at home, NC State should be a safe bet to finish above that .500 mark 

The Pack continues its ACC road trip with a match against Virginia on Saturday, Nov. 20 at 3 p.m.