North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Virginia Tech
NC State Volleyball Suffers Heartbreaker to Virginia Tech, 3-2
10/9/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 9, 2004
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Four players finished with double figures in kills for NC State, but it wasn't enough as the Wolfpack volleyball team suffered a heart-breaking loss to Virginia Tech, 3-2, in Atlantic Coast Conference action Saturday night at Reynolds Coliseum. With the loss, NC State drops to 10-9 overall, 0-6 in the ACC, while the Hokies improve to 9-8 overall, 4-2 in conference play.
The Wolfpack took the early lead to start the match, 3-0, but it wouldn't last long as the Hokies battled back to tie the match at 4-4. NC State would later pull within two points, 16-14, but then Virginia Tech went on a 9-1 run to close the door and win by the score of 19-30. Not going away, NC State took control of the second contest, building a 7-1 lead. Again the Hokies made a come back, but this time, the Pack was ready and held on strong to take a 30-28 win.
Tech rebounded in the start of game three, taking a 10-6 lead, but NC State used a 6-1 run to regain the lead, 12-11. With the score tied at 18-18, the Hokies managed to go on a 12-6 run to take the 2-1 lead in the match. The Pack remained poised as game four started, and began to pull away from the Hokies. Back-and-forth they went until NC State was able to separate itself and take the game, 30-25. In the key game five, the Pack got a three-point run to take an 8-7 lead, but the Hokies then used a 4-1 run of their own and never looked back, winning the match with a 15-13 victory.
Senior outside hitter Melanie Rowe led NC State with a career-high 22 kills off a .242 attack percentage. Meanwhile, junior middle blocker Adeola Kosoko and senior middle blocker Sarah Ensminger each tallied 11 kills, and freshman middle hitter Ashley Wallace finished with 10 kills of her own. Kosoko also set a new career-best with 23 digs, the most for the Wolfpack on the night.
After finishing with 12 total blocks against North Carolina Tuesday night, junior middle blocker Stefani Eddins also came up big for the Pack, finishing with 11 total blocks against the Hokies. That's good enough to tie Kari DeClerk for the second-most total blocks in an ACC match in school history. Eddins's 12 blocks against the Tar Heels Tuesday tied for first place in school history. Overall, Eddins now has 120 total blocks. She needs only 31 more to break the school record for most total blocks in a single season, which was 150 by Diane Ross back in 1984.
Also stepping up for NC State on the defensive side of the net was Ensminger, who notched a career-best eight block assists. Freshman setter Lauren Markowski, whose sister Melissa is also a setter for the Hokies, finished the night with 53 assists.
The Hokies were led by senior Annie Spicer, who had a match-high and season-high 29 kills, while adding 27 digs. Also in double figures was sophomore Katie Esbrook, with 17 kills, and redshirt sophomore Colette Ramirez, who added a season-high 15 kills for the Virginia Tech. Meanwhile, Markowski led Tech with 62 assists and also added 18 digs to her account.
The Wolfpack now hits the road later in the week to play at Miami and Florida State. NC State faces the Hurricanes on Friday at 7 p.m., and then the Seminoles on Sunday at 1 p.m.
-- WOLFPACK --
