NC State Volleyball Shuts Out Previously Unbeaten Tennessee, 3-0

Saturday, September 19

Raleigh, N.C. (Carmichael Gym)

7:00 PM

NC State

11-1

Tennessee

14-1

Tennessee

NC State

Photo by: Greg Mintel

NC State Volleyball Shuts Out Previously Unbeaten Tennessee, 3-0

9/19/2015 9:38:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Justin Wilson, Assistant Athletics Communications Director

Photo Gallery

RALEIGH, N.C. - The NC State women's volleyball team earned a #STATEment win Friday night, as the Wolfpack handed the Tennessee Volunteers their first loss of the season in straight sets, 3-0 (25-22, 27-25, 25-22), to win the Double Tree Cary Classic Championship in Carmichael Gym.

The Wolfpack moves to 11-1 on the season, while the Volunteers are now 14-1.

Match Notes
- NC State won all three of its matches in the tournament and did not drop a set, en route to its second nonconference tournament championship.
- Junior setter Maggie Speaks was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament, while classmate libero Rachel Eppley also claimed a spot on the team.
- Heading into tonight's match, Tennessee had not lost the second set all season but NC State was able to deny the Volunteers in the frame, 27-25.
- The Wolfpack's win versus a Southeastern Conference (SEC) opponent was the second of the year for the squad, as it defeated South Carolina earlier this season.

Bunn's Beat
Opening statement…
"It's a good win," said head coach Bryan Bunn. "Tennessee was 14-0 coming into this match and they're playing really well. We were able to come back and win the second set to get the sweep, so it's a nice win."

On the performance of NC State's outside hitters…
"Our two outside hitters, Julia [Brown] and Perry [Ramsey] played fantastic. They were killing the ball at a very high percentage."

Match Rewind
- NC State made a statement early in the match by racing out to an 8-3 lead in the first set, forcing a Tennessee timeout. The Volunteers fought their way back into the frame, but a pancake dig by senior Tanna Aljoe helped swing the momentum back to NC State's side as the Pack won the long rally to take an 18-16 advantage.
- With the score tied at 20, NC State closed out the first on a 5-2 run to win it, 25-22. The Wolfpack never trailed in the first set, but the score was tied once at 20.
- In the second set, the Pack led throughout most of it but the Volunteers came on strong down the stretch. With NC State leading 18-15, Tennessee won five of the next seven points to knot the score at 20.
- The Wolfpack countered with a timeout, but the Volunteers offensive rhthym was not interrupted. However, NC State was not out of it and the squad fought off set point twice to tie the set at 24.
- A kill by sophomore Julia Brown and an attack error by Tennessee's Kanisha Jimenez gave the Wolfpack a hard-fought 27-25 second-set win.
- Tennessee led early in the third set, but NC State scored three consecutive points to tie it at nine. The teams traded points throughout the next few rallies, as the score was tied 13 times and the lead changed three times.
- Brown put down a kill to knot the score at 21 and then combined on a block with freshman Blayke Hranicka to put the Pack ahead, 22-21.
- A Tennessee service error and attacking error gave NC State the 25-22 third-set win and 3-0 sweep in the match.

Top Performers
- Sophomore Perry Ramsey led the Wolfpack with a match-high 15 kills and a .448 attacking percentage. Brown chipped in with 12 kills.
- At the setter position, Speaks dished out a match-high 34 assists to go along with six kills and four blocks.
- Defensively, Eppley tallied 11 digs and sophomore Emily Harris contributed nine. Hranicka tallied a match-high and personal-best 12 blocks in the contest.

Quoting the Players
Maggie Speaks
On how it feels to win tournament MVP and team championship…
"This weekend was big. We have had some low practices but this week everyone came out and were aggressive in the games and played fearless. The outsides tonight really stepped up tremendously. They scouted us and knew Kaitlyn was our go-to player. The outsides stepped up and took care of the ball. It's a great feeling and a good way to head into ACC play."

Beating an unbeaten SEC team…
"As a team, we talked about handing them their first loss. After losing to Ole Miss, we were down and knew we needed to step it up tonight and win. We did what we needed to do to win"

Up Next
NC State returns to action on Friday, Sept. 25, when it travels to Pittsburgh for its ACC opener. First serve is set for 7 p.m. inside Fitzgerald Field House.

#STATEment