North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Georgia Tech
Volleyball Takes 3-2 Thriller Over Georgia Tech
9/30/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 30, 2011
ATLANTA – For the second time this season, NC State’s volleyball team stormed back from an 0-2 deficit, grabbing its second ACC win of the season in the process, with a 3-2 decision Friday night at Georgia Tech.
The match was incredibly close throughout, even when the Jackets won the first two sets, both by a score of 25-20.
Just as it did against Wisconsin earlier in the season, the Wolfpack (14-2 overall, 2-1 ACC) regrouped to win the next two sets by narrow margins, 25-23 and 25-22. In the final set, the two teams had 13 ties before the Wolfpack won the final three points for a 20-18 comeback victory.
The win matches the Pack’s win total from last year, which is the most for the program since 1999.
“We played with confidence, even when we were down two sets,” said second-year head coach Bryan Bunn. “The only thing we talked about was how we knew we could come back and win the match.”
First, the Wolfpack made a couple of changes in its defense of Georgia Tech’s junior rightside hitter Monique Mead, who had a match-high 27 kills on the night. After rotating it defense, the Wolfpack was able to force Mead and the rest of the Yellow Jackets to make errors throughout the final three sets.
“We were able to minimize our errors and Georgia Tech made a lot, especially on serves,” Bunn said.
The Yellow Jackets (8-6, 1-3) had 12 service errors on the night, while the Wolfpack had only four. Three of Tech’s service errors came in the decisive fifth set.
In the fifth, the two teams again battled evenly, with a total of 13 ties. Following an NC State setting error, Tech led 18-17 and needed only one point to end the two-hour, 15-minute match. But freshman Nicole Glass tied the score with a kill and senior Margaret Salata came up with two big plays to end the match.
Salata had a block at the net against Mead, who leads the ACC and is second in the nation in kills per set. That gave the Pack a 19-18 lead. On the next play, Salata smashed the game-winning point against the Yellow Jacket defense.
“Margaret started the match slowly, but really came on strong in the final three sets,” Bunn said. “The last two sets she was really, really strong.”
Salata finished the contest with a season-high 18 kills and a .484 hitting percentage.
Sophomore Brie Merriwether added 13 kills and Glass added 10.
In the first set, the Yellow Jackets stormed out early, scoring three straight points to take a 9-4 advantage. The Wolfpack cut that lead down to 19-18, later in the match on a kill by senior Luciana Schafer.
The Yellow Jackets scored four points in a row, forcing the Wolfpack to call timeout. When the teams returned, Tech finished off the 25-20 win, thanks in large part to its .412 hitting percentage. The Wolfpack hit just .133 in the opening set, while committing seven attack errors.
The second set was even closer, with the Wolfpack holding on to a narrow lead most of the way. Neither team led by more than two points until the Jackets scored four in a row, three on kills by ACC leader Monique Mead.
The Wolfpack called two timeouts to stem the Jackets momentum, but two more kills by Mead gave the Jackets a 25-20 win.
In the third set, the Wolfpack fell behind 12-8 and called timeout, which helped the team to fight back to a 16-16 tie. Freshman Laura Blab came off the bench and Salata recorded seven of her team-high 18 kills to help the Pack avoid the sweep with a narrow 25-23 win.
In the fourth set, the Pack relied on its deep bench to grab a 22-17 lead, and hold on for a 25-22 win.
The Wolfpack travels to Clemson on Saturday to face the Tigers in a 4 p.m. contest at Jervey Gym. The game was originally scheduled for 6, but was moved up by two hours to avoid conflict with Clemson’s football game.
