NC State Volleyball 7-0, Best Start in School History

RALEIGH, N.C. – For the first time in the history of the program, NC State volleyball is 7-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play after defeating Virginia in straight sets, 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-17), Friday night inside Reynolds Coliseum.

The Wolfpack picks up its 12th win in its last 13 matches, eighth consecutive victory and fourth straight 3-0 sweep.

NC State moves to 12-6 overall and remains one of just two unbeaten teams in conference play at 7-0, while Virginia falls to 4-14 and 0-7 in league action.

Worth Noting

– The 2017 NC State squad owns the best start to ACC play in program history, as the Wolfpack has never been 7-0 in conference play.

– NC State’s .362 attacking percentage is the highest in a conference match this season, besting the .341 mark set against Wake Forest.

– The Wolfpack has not dropped a set (12-0) in the month of October, as NCSU has won all four of its matches 3-0.

Quoting Hampton-Keith

Overall thoughts…

“We came in with the mindset to compete and got the outcome we wanted, but were mainly focused on the process, that’s what we kept trying to tell ourselves,” said head coach Linda Hampton-Keith. “There were times we were struggling a little bit and worked through it, so there was a lot of good stuff. We will continue to keep growing and get better, so that’s nice.”

On the best start to ACC play…

“All credit to this team and especially our seniors. They’ve had to endure a lot, and even our juniors for that matter, they’ve had to go through a lot. They’ve had to go through a coaching change and a whole new style, whole new culture and whole new everything. We’re doing things here that have never been done before, we’re changing history for the course of the program and that’s a really big deal.

“Now, that doesn’t mean we’re done with that, it’s step one but I told them let’s just take a moment to acknowledge how committed you have to be and just completely invested in order to come out and change the course of history, and that’s what we set out to do in the first place.”

Match Rewind

– Both teams started the match well and the first set was even early until NC State scored three unanswered points to take a 16-13 lead following back-to-back service aces from Julia Brown.

– A Virginia service error sparked a 4-0 run for the Wolfpack, as a pair of attacking errors by the Cavaliers and a kill from Brown extended the NCSU advantage to 23-18.

– Lauryn Terry swatted a kill to give NC State set point and a UVA attacking error capped the set at 25-20 to give the Pack a 1-0 lead in the overall match.

– With the score knotted at 10 in the second set, NCSU went on an 8-2 run to grab an 18-12 lead after a kill from Teni Sopitan.

– After Virginia trimmed the deficit to 19-14, Kylie Pickrell’s kill led to four unanswered points by the Pack to grab a 23-14 lead and NC State went on to win the set, 25-19.

– NC State went on a 5-1 run early in the third set to take a 12-8 lead and force a timeout by Virginia after a pair of kills from Brown and one from Sopitan.

– Bree Bailey’s kill pushed the Wolfpack’s lead to 17-12 and Sopitan swatted a kill at 19-15, resulting in the use of the Cavaliers’ second timeout.

– Virginia cut the NC State lead to 19-16 after a kill, but Brown answered with a kill and the Wolfpack closed out the set by winning six of the final seven rallies to take it 25-17 and the match, 3-0.

Top Performers

– Brown swatted a match-high 12 kills to go along with a .379 attacking percentage, as she committed just one error on 29 swings.

– Bailey put down nine kills complemented by a .389 clip and Sopitan equaled her total with nine kills and a .412 attacking percentage.

– At setter, Pickrell led all players with 33 assists in addition to five digs, three kills and two blocks.

– Defensively, libero Emily Harris notched a match-high 10 digs and Kassie Kasper pitched in with seven.

– Kearney collected eight blocks in the contest, highlighted by a solo block.

Up Next

NC State returns to action Sunday afternoon against the Virginia Tech Hokies at 2 p.m. inside Reynolds Coliseum.