North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Virginia
Wolfpack Falls 3-0 To Virginia In ACC Opener
9/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 23, 2005
RALEIGH, N.C. - The NC State volleyball team opened conference play Friday night at home with a 3-0 loss to Virginia. The Wolfpack, 6-3 overall and 0-1 in the ACC, showed signs of rust after a two-week layoff and the Cavaliers, 6-4 overall and 1-0 in the ACC, quickly quieted the Reynolds Coliseum crowd of 1,313, hitting .276 on the night and holding NC State to .106. Senior middle blocker Adeola Kosoko led the Wolfpack with seven kills and five blocks, including three solo stuffs, but Virginia swept the match 30-23, 30-18, 30-22.
"We didn't execute our gameplan," said NC State head coach Mary Bryne. "Every team we play knows that Adeola and Stefani (Eddins) are our go-to players on offense, so we need to be able to spread it around and have some others step up. They got frustrated early on and that set a bad tone for the match. Virginia is very scrappy. Every time we tried to get some momentum going, they zapped it. We really need to step up against Virginia Tech and show our great fans the type of volleyball that we are capable of playing."
Junior setter Melissa Rabe posted a team-best 24 assists on the night for the Pack and also led the team with a dozen digs. Bad passes led to many free and mishit balls for NC State and the Wolfpack struggled to string together consecutive points. Without any sign of giving up, NC State continued to hustle after wayward passes and kept several in play.
Sarah Kirkwood led the Cavaliers with 15 kills and three blocks while Melissa Caldwell tallied 16 digs and Emily Kirkwood registered 37 assists for the Wahoos. Virginia's sophomore middle blocker Katie Oakes suffered an injured ankle in a collision with setter Emily Kirkwood during pregame warm-ups and did not play. NC State was issued a red card and the accompanying 1-0 starting deficit in game three for a delay of game.
The Wolfpack returns to action Sunday at 1:00 p.m. against Virginia Tech in Reynolds Coliseum.
