Saturday, November 26
Raleigh, N.C.
2 P.M.
NC State
20-12, 13-7ACC
3
vs
1
(RV) Duke
21-9, 15-5ACC
1
2
3
4
F
Duke
23
16
25
21
1
NC State
25
25
20
25
3
Photo by: Greg Mintel
Wolfpack Volleyball Takes Down Rival Duke on Senior Day
11/26/2016 6:29:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Seniors Rachel Eppley and Maggie Speaks win final home match of their careers
RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State volleyball team made a #STATEment in its regular-season finale Saturday afternoon inside Reynolds Coliseum, as the Wolfpack took down rival Duke, 3-1 (25-23, 25-16, 20-25, 25-21), to give its two seniors, Rachel Eppley and Maggie Speaks, a win in their final home match.
NC State concludes the regular season at 20-12 overall and 13-7 in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play, which breaks the previous program record for conference wins (12). Duke falls to 21-9 and 15-5 in conference action.
Both teams will await the NCAA Volleyball Selection Show Sunday night at 9 p.m. (ET) on ESPNU to learn of its postseason fate.
Worth Noting
- NC State finishes the season with 20 wins for the first time since 2013, when the squad finished with an identical record.
- The Wolfpack earned its first win against Duke since 2013, snapping a streak of four consecutive losses to the Blue Devils.
- NCSU recorded an attacking percentage of .305 for the match, the eighth time this season that the Pack has turned in a hitting percentage better than .300.
Quoting Hampton-Keith
Overall thoughts on the match…
"What a great way to send our seniors out," said head coach Linda Hampton-Keith. "They capped off what turned out to be a fabulous senior campaign in new Reynolds and I couldn't have asked for a better way to end their senior season. It was awesome."
On what the seniors meant to the team's success…
"None of this works if the seniors don't buy in to what we're doing as coaches. It's so hard to go through a coaching change in general and it's especially hard for seniors because they've been doing it the longest. All credit goes to them for embracing us and doing everything that we've asked.
"They bought in when they didn't have to and they're the reason that this season was as successful as it was. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to them for that."
Match Rewind
- Both teams came ready to play in the match, as the first set saw 11 ties and four lead changes.
- Duke took an early 11-7 lead after a 6-1 run, but NC State didn't panic and chipped away at the advantage.
- The Wolfpack used a 4-1 stretch to knot the score at 16-16 after an attacking error by the Blue Devils.
- Trailing 21-19, NC State scored three unanswered points to grab a 22-21 lead forcing a Duke timeout.
- NCSU won three of the final four rallies to win the set, 25-23, following kills by Sarah Konchan and Teni Sopitan.
- NC State was dominant in the second set, recording a team attacking percentage of .500 in the frame, the highest for either team in the match.
- The Wolfpack raced out to a 7-3 lead in the second and took control of the frame with an 8-2 run to own an 18-10 advantage.
- A kill by Julia Brown gave the Pack set point and Perry Ramsey finished it off to lift the squad to a 25-16 second-set win.
- Duke edged NC State late in the third set, as the Blue Devils ended the set by winning six of the final eight points for the 25-20 victory.
- With Duke leading 9-8 in the fourth set, NC State went on a 9-2 run to take a 17-11 lead forcing the Blue Devils to use a pair of timeouts.
- Duke rallied to trim the NC State advantage to 21-19, but a kill by Sopitan sparked three consecutive points for the Pack and freshman Jessica Kemp ended the match with a kill off the slide to give NCSU the 25-21 set win and 3-1 victory in the overall match.
Top Performers
- Brown led all players with 24 kills, highlighted by 10 in the second set, and helped on defense with 11 digs for her 16th double double.
- Kemp swatted a career-best 12 kills to go along with a .435 attacking percentage, while Kaitlyn Kearney and Sopitan each put down 10 kills.
- Speaks dished out a match-high 57 assists and collected 15 digs for her 15th double-double performance of the year.
- Defensively, Eppley's 25 digs were the most for any player in the contest. Freshman Grace Irvin tallied 10 digs and Ramsey had six.
NC State concludes the regular season at 20-12 overall and 13-7 in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play, which breaks the previous program record for conference wins (12). Duke falls to 21-9 and 15-5 in conference action.
Both teams will await the NCAA Volleyball Selection Show Sunday night at 9 p.m. (ET) on ESPNU to learn of its postseason fate.
Worth Noting
- NC State finishes the season with 20 wins for the first time since 2013, when the squad finished with an identical record.
- The Wolfpack earned its first win against Duke since 2013, snapping a streak of four consecutive losses to the Blue Devils.
- NCSU recorded an attacking percentage of .305 for the match, the eighth time this season that the Pack has turned in a hitting percentage better than .300.
Quoting Hampton-Keith
Overall thoughts on the match…
"What a great way to send our seniors out," said head coach Linda Hampton-Keith. "They capped off what turned out to be a fabulous senior campaign in new Reynolds and I couldn't have asked for a better way to end their senior season. It was awesome."
On what the seniors meant to the team's success…
"None of this works if the seniors don't buy in to what we're doing as coaches. It's so hard to go through a coaching change in general and it's especially hard for seniors because they've been doing it the longest. All credit goes to them for embracing us and doing everything that we've asked.
"They bought in when they didn't have to and they're the reason that this season was as successful as it was. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to them for that."
Match Rewind
- Both teams came ready to play in the match, as the first set saw 11 ties and four lead changes.
- Duke took an early 11-7 lead after a 6-1 run, but NC State didn't panic and chipped away at the advantage.
- The Wolfpack used a 4-1 stretch to knot the score at 16-16 after an attacking error by the Blue Devils.
- Trailing 21-19, NC State scored three unanswered points to grab a 22-21 lead forcing a Duke timeout.
- NCSU won three of the final four rallies to win the set, 25-23, following kills by Sarah Konchan and Teni Sopitan.
- NC State was dominant in the second set, recording a team attacking percentage of .500 in the frame, the highest for either team in the match.
- The Wolfpack raced out to a 7-3 lead in the second and took control of the frame with an 8-2 run to own an 18-10 advantage.
- A kill by Julia Brown gave the Pack set point and Perry Ramsey finished it off to lift the squad to a 25-16 second-set win.
- Duke edged NC State late in the third set, as the Blue Devils ended the set by winning six of the final eight points for the 25-20 victory.
- With Duke leading 9-8 in the fourth set, NC State went on a 9-2 run to take a 17-11 lead forcing the Blue Devils to use a pair of timeouts.
- Duke rallied to trim the NC State advantage to 21-19, but a kill by Sopitan sparked three consecutive points for the Pack and freshman Jessica Kemp ended the match with a kill off the slide to give NCSU the 25-21 set win and 3-1 victory in the overall match.
Top Performers
- Brown led all players with 24 kills, highlighted by 10 in the second set, and helped on defense with 11 digs for her 16th double double.
- Kemp swatted a career-best 12 kills to go along with a .435 attacking percentage, while Kaitlyn Kearney and Sopitan each put down 10 kills.
- Speaks dished out a match-high 57 assists and collected 15 digs for her 15th double-double performance of the year.
- Defensively, Eppley's 25 digs were the most for any player in the contest. Freshman Grace Irvin tallied 10 digs and Ramsey had six.
Team Stats
DU
ST
Kills
55
69
Errors
16
18
Attempts
148
167
Hitting %
.264
.305
Points
69.5
80.0
Assists
54
66
Aces
4
3
Blocks
10.5
8.0
Game Leaders
Kills
24
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
6
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
DS/L
/ Women's Volleyball
DS/L
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's Volleyball
S
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