North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
12-7, 1-6ACC
Louisville
13-7, 5-3ACC
Wolfpack Volleyball Comes Up Short Against Louisville, 3-2
10/19/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
RALEIGH, N.C. - The NC State women’s volleyball team dropped a 3-2 (25-18, 16-25, 25-20, 14-25, 9-15) decision versus Louisville on Sunday afternoon in Reynolds Coliseum. Both teams traded points for the majority of the match. Despite solid play offensively and defensively, a six-point run from the Cardinals at the end of fifth set ended the match.
Freshman middle blocker Kaitlyn Kearney led the Wolfpack (12-7, 1-6 ACC) with 15 kills and a .448 hitting percentage. Junior Tanna Aljoe had 47 assists and eight digs. Defensively, sophomore libero Rachel Eppley and sophomore Maddie Brown both had 14 digs.
State started the match strong and won the first set, 25-18, after strong play on both sides of the net. Senior outside hitter Dariyan Hooper had five first-set kills while Aljoe had six of the team’s 19 digs. Aljoe also added 12 assists. State only trailed once during the first set and finished strong with a 7-2 run.
Louisville (13-7, 5-3 ACC) answered with a strong showing in the second set to win it, 25-16. The Cardinals piled on the pressure early and stayed ahead largely in part to a .591 hitting percentage. Kearney led all players with six kills in the second set. A seven point run from the Cardinals ended the second set.
In a close third set, the Pack outmatched Louisville with a strong finish to win the set, 25-20. Six Pack players earned kills in the third set. Freshman defensive specialist Emily Harris earned her first collegiate kill from the back row on an out of system attack. Several Pack players made diving saves to keep the play alive before Harris hit it past the Cardinals’ defense. A 5-2 run from the Wolfpack finished off the set.
Louisville responded with a strong fourth set to win it, 25-14. Once again, Louisville hitters were accurate and led the way with a .440 hitting percentage. An 8-1 Louisville run concluded the frame.
The fifth set was tightly contested before Louisville went on a run to finish off the match. After falling behind 5-2 the Pack rallied to tie the set at 9-9 – which forced a Louisville timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Louisville capped off the match with six unanswered points.
NC State returns to action on Friday, Oct. 24 when it travels to Virginia to take on the Cavaliers at 7 p.m. in Charlottesville, Va.
Written By Daniel Neal, Athletics Communications Student Assistant
