NC State Volleyball Defeats Virginia Tech; Remains Undefeated in ACC Play at 8-0

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RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State volleyball team turned away the Virginia Tech Hokies with a 3-1 (24-26, 25-16, 25-20, 25-21) win Sunday afternoon inside Reynolds Coliseum to remain undefeated in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play at 8-0.

After dropping the first set for the first time in the last nine matches, the Wolfpack stormed back to win the next three sets. It was the first set that NC State has lost in the month of October, as the squad entered the contest with four sweeps (12-0).

The Wolfpack picks up its ninth consecutive victory and eighth in conference action to move to 13-6 overall and 8-0 in the ACC. Virginia Tech falls to 7-12 and 1-7 in conference play.

Quoting Hampton-Keith
Overall thoughts…
"I thought we did a really good job towards the end of the match, we dug ourselves in a hole again in the fourth set and somehow, someway, when we get down like that we continue to take it one play at a time and start executing and I think we did a really good job of that," said head coach Linda Hampton-Keith. "Now the challenge moving forward is not to get into that hole, but those are things we talked about after the match.

"I don't want to take anything away from the win, a win's a win, it's great and we should celebrate that and I hope that what we do now is come back and continue to get work. We have our work cut out for us, there's still a lot of volleyball left to play in this conference. We just need to show up for practice, enjoy this day, celebrate it, then tomorrow show up ready to get back to work. I'm sure they will, I'm confident they will do that."

Worth Noting
- NC State continues to build on its best start in program history, as the Wolfpack has never been undefeated in the ACC after eight conference matches.
- The Wolfpack lost the first set in the match for the first time since Sept. 15 at No. 21 Michigan.
- Senior Kaitlyn Kearney tallied seven blocks in the contest and now owns 496 for her career, finishing just two shy of breaking the all-time career blocks record of 497.
- Sunday's match was the Wolfpack's annual Pink Match in observance of Breast Cancer Awarness Month.

Match Rewind
- The opening set was tightly contest, as there were 12 ties and five lead changes.
- Neither team was able to pull away until Virginia Tech went on a 5-2 run to take a 13-9 lead, but NC State responded with a 6-1 run to grab a 15-14 advantage.
- Following an NC State timeout at 17-15, the Wolfpack won five of the next seven points to force a VT timeout at 20-19.
- Sophomore Teni Sopitan gave NCSU set point at 24-23, but Tech fought it off with a kill and recorded back-to-back blocks to win the frame, 26-24.
- NC State never trailed in the second set en route to a 25-16 win to even the match at one apiece.
- The Pack raced out to a 9-4 lead after a solo block by Kearney and continued to extend the advantage.
- A 5-1 run from NC State made it 17-9 and Sopitan capped the set with a kill from the right side to even the match.
- The Red and White used a 6-2 run to take control of the third set at 15-10, resulting in a timeout by Virginia Tech.
- Kills from Sopitan gave the Wolfpack a 22-18 advantage and then a 23-19 lead before a block assist from Julia Brown and Kearney lifted the squad to a 25-20 win.
- NC State turned in its best attacking percentage of the night in the third set at .432 with 18 kills on 37 attempts with only two errors.
- Virginia Tech jumped out to an early 8-3 lead in the fourth set, but NC State did not go away and continued to chip away at the score.
- A kill by Sopitan sparked a string of four unanswered points to trim the deficit to 11-8.
- Brown's kill evened the set at 16-16 and an attacking error by Tech followed as NCSU took its first lead of the frame at 17-16.
- After the Hokies narrowed the Wolfpack lead to 19-18, NC State countered with a 4-1 run to extend the lead and earn the 25-21 fourth-set victory and 3-1 win in the overall match.

Top Performers
- Bree Bailey led NC State with a season-high 17 kills complemented by a .429 attacking percentage.
- Sopitan finished closely behind with 16 kills and a .438 clip, while Brown added 12 kills and 10 digs for the Wolfpack to notch her ninth double-double.
- At setter, Kylie Pickrell dished out a match-high 53 assists to go along with six digs and two kills.
- Defensively, libero Emily Harris contributed 14 digs and defensive specialist Grace Irvin pitched in with six.
- Kearney led all players in the contest with seven blocks, including three solo stops.

Up Next
NC State will have a short week, as the squad returns to action at UNC-Chapel Hill Wednesday evening. First serve is slated for 6:30 p.m. inside Carmichael Arena.

NC State Volleyball Defeats Virginia Tech; Remains Undefeated in ACC Play at 8-0

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Team Stats

Bree Bailey

Teni Sopitan

Julia Brown

Lauryn Terry

Players Mentioned

Bree Bailey

Julia Brown

Emily Harris

Grace Irvin

Kaitlyn Kearney

Kylie Pickrell

Teni Sopitan

Players Mentioned

Bree Bailey

Julia Brown

Emily Harris

Grace Irvin

Kaitlyn Kearney

Kylie Pickrell

Teni Sopitan