North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
North Carolina
Volleyball Drops Final Match to Tar Heels
11/26/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 26, 2010
RALEIGH, N.C. -
Luciana Shafer scored her team-leading ninth double-double of the season, scoring 12 kills and 10 digs, but the effort was not enough to lift NC State (14-18, 4-16 ACC) over North Carolina (24-9, 15-5 ACC) in the Wolfpack’s final match of 2010.
Megan Cyr chipped in seven kills to go along with 28 assists in the match, and freshman Meredith Richardson notched six for the Pack.
Defensively, Kelly Wood paced the squad in digs, earning 15, and Elena Frac contributed 10 in the last match of her freshman campaign.
The Wolfpack jumped out to a 5-4 lead early in the first set, but then North Carolina rallied, earning a 6-11 advantage before forcing NC State head coach Bryan Bunn to utilize the Pack’s first timeout. Out of the break, a Margaret Salata solo block brought the squad within two points at 10-12. The Pack continued to battle, pulling as close as 15-16 before the Tar Heels rattled off 10 of the next 12 points to take the set 18-25. In the opening frame, NC State was only able to score 11 kills in comparison to North Carolina’s 17, and was also plagued by four service errors.
In the second set, the Wolfpack faced an early deficit, 3-7, before Bunn called the first timeout of the game. The squad then scored the next five-straight points, taking an 8-7 lead. For the next few points, the score bounced back-and-forth until North Carolina embarked on a five-point run of their own to take a 14-20 lead. The Tar Heels went on to defeat the Pack in the set by a 19-25 margin despite both squads earning the same number of kills (11).
Like in the second set, the Wolfpack fell behind in the third frame early (2-6) before forcing Bunn to call a timeout. However, the Tar Heels did not let NC State creep back in the game this time, extending their lead to 4-11. The Pack refused to quit, though, storming back in the match to pull within one point at 19-20 before knotting the score at 22. Thanks to a Shafer kill, the Pack again tied the score at 23-23, but the Tar Heels had the final run, scoring the final two points of the set to win 23-25.
Though the Pack dropped the final match of the season, 2010 was a year of improvement for the NC State volleyball program. Under first year head coach Bunn, the squad earned the most overall (14) and conference (4) victories since 1999, and defeated Miami for the first time in program history.
