North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Miami
Volleyball Falls to Miami
11/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 12, 2010
CORAL GABLES, FLA. -
Alex Smith scored a career-high 17 kills and Luciana Shafer earned her second double-double in as many matches, but the effort was not enough to lift NC State volleyball over Miami on Friday, Nov. 12, 2010.
The loss drops the Wolfpack to 13-15 overall and 3-13 in ACC play this season, but brings the Hurricanes to 19-8 and 9-7 in 2010.
Smith’s 17 kills paced the Pack’s offense, which rebounded from its last few efforts, hitting at an overall .196 clip in the match. Shafer was the only other NC State player to join Smith in double figure kills, scoring 12 to go along with 12 digs. In addition, Margaret Salata contributed eight kills, and Brie Merriwether chipped in seven. Megan Cyr dished out 44 assists to pace the squad, giving her a season total of 994.
Defensively, Kelly Wood led the way for the Wolfpack, corralling 24 digs in four sets of play. NC State dominated Miami in blocks, earning a team total of nine in the match, compared to the Hurricanes’ five. Salata paced the squad, scoring three solo and two assisted.
In the first set, the Pack gained its first lead 8-7 off of a Smith kill. Miami responded, though, taking a 13-15 lead. NC State bounced back, forcing four ties before the Hurricanes pulled away, winning the set by a score of 25-20. In the opening frame, the Wolfpack hit at a match-high .342 and smashed 17 kills.
The squad battled in the second set, taking an initial 8-7 lead. Miami, however, crawled back to earn an 11-15 lead, forcing NC State head coach Bryan Bunn to take a timeout. In the end, an eight point Miami run sealed the deal, and the Hurricanes took the second frame 25-17.
The Pack came out firing in the third set, jumping out to a 4-0 lead, which the squad extended to 8-2 before forcing Miami to take a timeout. NC State maintained the gap throughout the entire set, winning 25-20 while hitting at a .205 clip and holding Miami to a mere .143 attack percentage.
Miami opened the fourth frame with a 4-8 lead, which the Pack cut to two at 7-9. However, the Hurricanes then embarked on a six point run to extend that mark to 7-15. Behind an .036 attack percentage, the Wolfpack eventually fell 13-25 in the set, dropping the match 1-3.
NC State returns to action Sunday, Nov. 14 in Tallahassee, Fla., where the squad will battle Florida State at 1 p.m. The match will be available via Gametracker on GoPack.com.
