North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Liberty
Wolfpack Volleyball Falls To Liberty, 3-1
10/19/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 19, 2004
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Outside hitter Jennifer Belk finished with a match-high 20 kills to lead Liberty to a 3-1 victory over NC State in volleyball action at Reynolds Coliseum Tuesday night. The loss now drops the Wolfpack to 10-12 overall, while the Flames won only their fifth match of the season, and improve to 5-16 on the year.
The Wolfpack jumped out to an early lead in game one, but the Flames managed to come from behind and never looked back, taking a 30-25 win. More of the same followed in the second contest, as Liberty built a lead and fought off several NC State comebacks to take the game by the score of 30-28. After a short intermission, however, it was the Pack that showed signs of life, running away with the third game of the night. The Flames gave chase, but in the end, NC State forced a game four with a 30-26 victory. The Wolfpack would try to take the match to five in the fourth contest, but came up short, falling 30-21.
NC State was led by junior middle blocker Stefani Eddins, who came up just one block short of a triple-double, as she finished the night with a career-best 13 kills to go with 10 digs and nine total blocks. Junior middle blocker Adeola Kosoko and senior outside hitter Melanie Rowe also had solid performances for the Pack, each tallying 13 kills. The two combined for five total blocks and 15 digs defensively. Freshman libero Andrea Bentley led the team with 13 digs, while freshman setter Lauren Markowski dished out 43 assists.
In addition to her offensive performance, Belk added 22 digs and two block assists. Middle blockers Autum Poorman, Becky Rudnick and Tiffany Thoreson also stepped up for the Flames, recording 15, 14 and 13 kills respectively. Libero Laura Bartolomeo led the Flames with 28 digs, and setter Kristin Colson added a match-high 63 assists.
NC State will remain home as it prepares for two Atlantic Coast Conference matches this weekend. The Pack will host Georgia Tech on Friday and then play Clemson on Saturday. Both matches start at 7 p.m. in Reynolds Coliseum.
