Bailey Tallies 1,000th Career Kill in Loss to #21 Michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – NC State volleyball's Bree Bailey recorded her 1,000^th career kill Friday night against No. 21 Michigan, but the Wolfpack was edged in straight sets by the Wolverines, 3-0 (25-23, 26-24, 25-22), inside Cliff Keen Arena.

Bailey, who transferred into the NC State program after spending her first three seasons at Arizona State, becomes just the 12^th Wolfpack player to reach the milestone. She entered the match with 991 to her credit and accomplished the feat on her ninth kill.

One weekend after teammate Julia Brown surpassed the mark, Bailey joins the 1,000 kill club as NC State is one of just six schools to have two players on its roster with 1,000 or more kills.

No. 21 Michigan, which advanced to the third round (Sweet 16) of the NCAA Tournament last season, improves to 8-2 on the year and NC State falls to 4-6 with four of its losses against top-25 opponents.

Quoting Hampton-Keith
Overall thoughts…
"We continue to push ourselves and step up to the challenge of our schedule," said head coach Linda Hampton-Keith. "I'm proud of our team's effort tonight, we just didn't execute small details when the sets were tight and against good teams you have to be clean late in the set.

"These close matches are preparing us for our conference season and we have one more opportunity tomorrow to put together a complete match before heading back to Raleigh and opening ACC play."

Worth Noting
- NC State dropped its first two sets by two points and the third set by three points.
- The Wolfpack out-blocked the Wolverines, 7-6, headlined by Kaitlyn Kearney with four blocks.
- NCSU turned in its strong offensive showing in the third set, as the Pack hit .481 with 16 kills on 27 swings with only three errors.

Match Rewind
- NC State had a tough start to the match, as 21^st-ranked Michigan rushed out to an 11-6 lead to force a Wolfpack timeout.
- A 4-1 run a few rallies later trimmed the NCSU deficit to 16-14 in the first set following a kill from Julia Brown.
- Freshman Melissa Evans and Kearney combined on a block assist to narrow the tally to 22-20.
- The Wolfpack fought off two set-point opportunities with a solo block by Kearney and a kill from Bailey, resulting in a Michigan timeout at 24-23.
- Unfortunately, a kill for the Wolverines followed out of the break to give UM a 1-0 lead in the match.
- The second set was tightly contested, as neither team led by more than three points early.
- Three consecutive points helped the Wolverines grab a 15-11 lead, but the Wolfpack countered with a 4-1 run to narrow the deficit to 16-15.
- Trailing 21-18, NC State won five of the next six rallies to take a 23-22 lead, forcing a UM timeout.
- A kill by Bailey gave the Pack set point, 24-23, but Michigan scored three unanswered points to clinch the set, 26-24.
- Michigan won three successive rallies to take a 12-8 advantage in the third set, but NC State did not go away and rallied to cut the UM lead to 18-17 after a kill from Kearney.
- The Wolverines went on a 3-1 run out of the timeout en route to the 25-22 third-set win and 3-0 victory in the match.

Top Performers
- Brown led the Wolfpack offensively with 12 kills to go along with a .400 attacking percentage.
- Bailey swatted 11 kills and Evans chipped in with seven.
- At the setter position, Pickrell dished out 32 assists in addition to seven digs.
- Libero Grace Irvin and defensive specialist Kassie Kasper each logged six digs.

Up Next
NC State will conclude play in the Michigan Challenge against Milwaukee Saturday evening. First serve is slated for 5 p.m. inside Cliff Keen Arena.

Bailey Tallies 1,000th Career Kill in Loss to #21 Michigan

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Team Stats

Julia Brown

Bree Bailey

Melissa Evans

Kaitlyn Kearney

Players Mentioned

Bree Bailey

Julia Brown

Melissa Evans

Grace Irvin

Kassie Kasper

Kaitlyn Kearney

Players Mentioned

Bree Bailey

Julia Brown

Melissa Evans

Grace Irvin

Kassie Kasper

Kaitlyn Kearney