North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
North Carolina
Volleyball Claws Back, Falls in 5th Set at UNC
10/4/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 4, 2011
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- For the third consecutive match, NC State forced five sets in an ACC road contest, storming back from an 0-2 deficit against rival North Carolina before eventually falling, 15-9, in the fifth and final set.
After losing the first two sets, 25-12 and 25-11, the Wolfpack changed its lineup in the third set and played evenly with the Tar Heels. A pair of blocks by senior middle blocker Margaret Salata broke a 23-23 tie in the third set that allowed the Wolfpack to secure its first win of the match.
The Wolfpack (14-4 overall, 2-3 ACC) jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead in the fourth set and cruised to a 25-20 victory.
In the decisive fifth set, the Tar Heels (13-3, 5-0) scored the first three points and fought off another comeback attempt after the Wolfpack tied the score to record their seventh consecutive win.
“They got a little bit of a gap and we never could close it,” said head coach Bryan Bunn said. “We had a couple of opportunities to make a move, but we didn’t get it done.”
Freshman Nicole Glass led State with 10 kills, followed by sophomore Brie Merriwether with nine and Salata with eight. Junior Megan Cyr had 34 assists, while senior Kelly Wood led the team with 19 digs, followed by junior Alexa Micek with 11.
UNC junior Emily McGee led her team with 19 kills, a .375 hitting percentage 22 digs and 20 points.
“We came out a lot better in the last three sets,” said the coach. “We just gave ourselves too big of a deficit when we walked out on the court.
“We tried a bunch of different combinations earlier in the match. We came out in the third set with much more energy and much more confidence. It wasn’t a physical difference, but it was a big mental difference.”
As a team, the Wolfpack had 29 attack errors, five service errors and five blocking errors. The Pack was held to a .092 hitting percentage for the match, while the Tar Heels hit .323 overall.
“We were horrible attacking tonight,” Bunn said. “We didn’t pass the ball well. We had way too many errors in the first two sets.
“That made it difficult for us.”
Still, it’s the fourth time this season that the Wolfpack has taken an opponent to a fifth set. Earlier this year, Bunn’s team came back from 0-2 deficits against both Wisconsin and Georgia Tech to take 3-2 victories. In its most recent match, the Pack won two of its first three sets against Clemson, but dropped the final two sets for a 3-2 loss.
This weekend, the Wolfpack returns home for the first time since the start of the ACC season, hosting Miami on Friday at 7 p.m. and Florida State on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Miami match will be live-streamed on GoPack.com/All-Access, while the Florida State match will be televised by Fox Sports South.
“It’s going to be nice to get back to Reynolds and our home court,” Bunn said. “Unfortunately, it will be against the first- and second-placed teams in the conference.
“But there’s no doubt I have complete confidence that we can win both those matches.”
