NC State Volleyball Falls at No. 6 UNC-Chapel Hill

Wednesday, November 16

Chapel Hill, N.C. (Carmichael Arena)

6 P.M.

NC State

17-12, 10-7ACC

#6 UNC - Chapel Hill

24-3, 16-1ACC

Team	1	2	3	Final F
NC State	16	11	20	0
North Carolina	25	25	25	3

Photo by: Jeff Camarati

NC State Volleyball Falls at No. 6 UNC-Chapel Hill

11/16/2016 5:33:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score

Wolfpack holds Tar Heels without service ace for first time since 2013

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Despite holding sixth-ranked UNC-Chapel Hill without a service ace for the first time this season, the NC State volleyball team dropped a 3-0 (25-16, 25-11, 25-20) decision Wednesday night inside Carmichael Arena.

The Wolfpack falls to 17-12 and 10-7 in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play, while the Tar Heels improve to 24-3 and 16-1 in the conference.

It was the first time this season that NC State has not allowed an opponent to record a service ace during a match and the first time UNC has been held without an ace this year. Additionally, the Tar Heels had not been held without an ace in a match since Oct. 11, 2013, which was a 3-0 loss for the squad at home versus Duke.

Quoting Hampton-Keith
Overall thoughts…
"We're disappointed with our effort overall," said head coach Linda Hampton-Keith. "We had moments that we played well but just a few moments of good play doesn't win you volleyball matches. We talk about being good over the course of time and tonight we just didn't give ourselves a chance to do that."

On the team's passing, not allowing a service ace…
"I thought our passing was one of the better parts of our game tonight and Rachel Eppley did an exceptional job overall. She did a good job defensively and made sure our serve receive was working."

Match Rewind
- Sixth-ranked UNC started fast in the match, as the Tar Heels raced out to an 8-2 lead in the first set.
- A 3-0 run by NC State cut the deficit to 15-11, but UNC scored four consecutive points to halt the comeback and went on to win the set, 25-16.
- The Wolfpack started slow in the second set, but countered quickly by winning seven of eight points to knot the score at 9-9 after a Heels attacking error.
- Unfortunately for NC State, the high-powered Tar Heels countered with seven unanswered points to extend their lead to 16-9 en route to the 25-11 second-set win.
- Both teams started well in the third set, as it was even early at 3-3 until the Tar Heels won five of the next six points to take an 8-5 lead.
- NC State looked to make a run several times in the frame, but UNC had an answer each time.
- Trailing 16-10, the Wolfpack won three of the next four points to trim the deficit to 17-13 after a kill by Kaitlyn Kearney but a kill by the Tar Heels followed.
- The teams traded points down the stretch with NCSU fighting off two match point opportunities before the Tar Heels were able to convert to clinch the victory.

Top Performers
- Sophomore Teni Sopitan led NC State offensively with 10 kills, while junior Julia Brown tallied six along with classmate Kearney.
- Freshman Jessica Kemp turned in a strong performance with five kills on eight attempts without an error to record a match-high .625 attacking percentage.
- At setter, senior Maggie Speaks led all players with 25 assists to go along with four kills and four digs.
- Defensively, Rachel Eppley collected 14 digs to lead the Pack and Brown pitched in with eight.

Up Next
NC State returns to action at home Sunday afternoon when the squad welcomes the Virginia Cavaliers to Reynolds Coliseum. First serve is slated for 2 p.m. and the contest will be broadcast live on the ACC Network Extra.