Sunday, September 24
Raleigh, N.C.
1 P.M.
NC State
7-6, 2-0ACC
3
vs
2
(RV) Notre Dame
10-3, 0-2ACC
1
2
3
4
5
F
Notre Dame
17
25
16
25
7
2
NC State
25
19
25
21
15
3
Photo by: Greg Mintel, Bella Volpe
Pack Volleyball Turns Away Notre Dame, Improves to 2-0 in ACC Play
9/24/2017 5:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
RALEIGH, N.C. – Highlighted by season-highs in digs (94) and blocks (18.5), the NC State volleyball team earned its second consecutive five-set win with a 3-2 (25-17, 19-25, 25-16, 21-25, 15-7) victory against Notre Dame Sunday afternoon inside Reynolds Coliseum.
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The Wolfpack improves to 7-6 on the year and 2-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play, the first time the squad has won its first two league matches since 2012. The Fighting Irish, which entered the match receiving 73 votes for the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Poll to rank 27th, fall to 10-3 and 0-2 in conference action.
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Worth Noting
- NC State has now won seven of its last eight matches.
- The Wolfpack's 18.5 blocks are the most by any team in the ACC this season and ranks among the top 15 of the NCAA in the category. That total is the most for the Pack since Sept. 25, 2015 when NC State had 20 blocks at Pittsburgh.
- Additionally, NCSU's 94 digs are tied for the sixth most by an ACC team this season and most for the program since 102 versus Clemson on Sept. 29, 2012.
- Five different players recorded double-digit digs in the contest, headlined by seniors Emily Harris with a career-high 26 and Julia Brown with a personal-best 23 digs.
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Quoting Hampton-Keith
Overall thoughts…
"Two five-gamers back-to-back in conference to open it up," said head coach Linda Hampton-Keith. "I love that we're being pretty gutsy right now, in two very different, dramatic fashions. Today was a really well-balanced effort on our part, so that was really exciting to see. Our team kept hanging in there and pushing back. It was a fun match to coach.
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"I have a lot of respect for their school and the coaching staff, so it was a fun match to coach. We knew they were going to be prepared, and we wanted to be prepared as well."
On the adjustments made in the fifth set…
"We had an idea of what they were going to do, where they were going to be, and we wanted to get back to where we were that first set. We made some adjustments on where we started in hopes that it would create the same outcome, and it did, so that was fun."
On a season-high dig effort for the team…
"They did a really good job. One of the things we talked about going into this match was just being patient. We knew they were going to dig and dig. We were one of the better offensive teams coming into this, and they were one of the better defensive teams. Their libero is really fantastic. We just knew they were going to dig and dig and dig, and keep going and going. We were trying to make sure that we were relentless on our part to do the same. To dig and dig, be patient and take our swings when we had them. I thought we did an excellent job of that."
 Match Rewind
- Junior Teni Sopitan started the match on fire for the Wolfpack, as she swatted five kills on seven attempts and did not commit an error to compile a .714 attacking percentage in the first set.
- NC State tallied a .382 attacking percentage in the first frame, the highest of the day for either team, and limited Notre Dame to a .121 clip.
- The Wolfpack logged its highest sideout percentage of the match in the first set at 82 percent (14-17).
- A 7-2 run gave the Pack a 12-8 lead in the opening set to force a timeout by the Fighting Irish.
- NCSU won five of the next seven points out of the break to grab a 17-10 advantage and cruised to the 25-17 win.
- Notre Dame evened the match at one with a 25-19 second-set win. Six unanswered points allowed the squad to take control of the frame and the Irish led from the point.
- In the third set, NC State scored six consecutive points with Kaitlyn Kearney at the service line to take a 15-9 lead after a kill from Kylie Pickrell.
- A block assist from Bree Bailey and Kearney resulted in a Notre Dame timeout at 23-14 and Brown finished off the set with a kill from the outside to lift the Wolfpack to a 2-1 lead.
- The Fighting Irish countered with a strong fourth set to knot the match at two apiece, as ND pulled away with three successive points after the Wolfpack trimmed the lead to 22-21.
- NC State quickly grabbed a 3-0 lead in the decisive fifth set, following a huge solo block from Sopitan.
- Four unanswered points extended the Pack's advantage to 11-4 and NCSU closed out the set by winning the final three rallies.
- A service ace by Kearney gave the squad match point and Sopitan capped the match with a kill from the middle to give NC State the 15-7 fifth-set win and 3-2 victory.
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Top Performers
- Four different players reached double-digit kills in the contest for the first time this season, highlighted by Brown and freshman Melissa Evans each with 15.
- Sopitan tallied 13 kills and only had one miscue to record a .571 attacking percentage. Bailey also reached double figures with 10 kills.
- At setter, Pickrell dished out a match-high and season-high 56 assists to go along with 10 digs and eight blocks, tallying her fifth double-double of the year.
- Defensively, Sopitan and Kearney both tallied season-highs with nine blocks each and Evans had a season-high seven.
- Harris collected a career-best 26 digs and Brown also had a career-best with 23 to log her sixth double-double.
- Sophomore Grace Irvin pitched in with 13 digs and Makenzie Kuchmaner contributed 11.
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Up Next
NC State returns to action Friday evening when the Wolfpack hits the road for the first time in ACC play this season. The Pack travels to Georgia Tech Friday for a 7 p.m. tilt and Clemson Sunday for a 1 p.m. first serve.
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The Wolfpack improves to 7-6 on the year and 2-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play, the first time the squad has won its first two league matches since 2012. The Fighting Irish, which entered the match receiving 73 votes for the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Poll to rank 27th, fall to 10-3 and 0-2 in conference action.
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Worth Noting
- NC State has now won seven of its last eight matches.
- The Wolfpack's 18.5 blocks are the most by any team in the ACC this season and ranks among the top 15 of the NCAA in the category. That total is the most for the Pack since Sept. 25, 2015 when NC State had 20 blocks at Pittsburgh.
- Additionally, NCSU's 94 digs are tied for the sixth most by an ACC team this season and most for the program since 102 versus Clemson on Sept. 29, 2012.
- Five different players recorded double-digit digs in the contest, headlined by seniors Emily Harris with a career-high 26 and Julia Brown with a personal-best 23 digs.
Â
Quoting Hampton-Keith
Overall thoughts…
"Two five-gamers back-to-back in conference to open it up," said head coach Linda Hampton-Keith. "I love that we're being pretty gutsy right now, in two very different, dramatic fashions. Today was a really well-balanced effort on our part, so that was really exciting to see. Our team kept hanging in there and pushing back. It was a fun match to coach.
Â
"I have a lot of respect for their school and the coaching staff, so it was a fun match to coach. We knew they were going to be prepared, and we wanted to be prepared as well."
On the adjustments made in the fifth set…
"We had an idea of what they were going to do, where they were going to be, and we wanted to get back to where we were that first set. We made some adjustments on where we started in hopes that it would create the same outcome, and it did, so that was fun."
On a season-high dig effort for the team…
"They did a really good job. One of the things we talked about going into this match was just being patient. We knew they were going to dig and dig. We were one of the better offensive teams coming into this, and they were one of the better defensive teams. Their libero is really fantastic. We just knew they were going to dig and dig and dig, and keep going and going. We were trying to make sure that we were relentless on our part to do the same. To dig and dig, be patient and take our swings when we had them. I thought we did an excellent job of that."
 Match Rewind
- Junior Teni Sopitan started the match on fire for the Wolfpack, as she swatted five kills on seven attempts and did not commit an error to compile a .714 attacking percentage in the first set.
- NC State tallied a .382 attacking percentage in the first frame, the highest of the day for either team, and limited Notre Dame to a .121 clip.
- The Wolfpack logged its highest sideout percentage of the match in the first set at 82 percent (14-17).
- A 7-2 run gave the Pack a 12-8 lead in the opening set to force a timeout by the Fighting Irish.
- NCSU won five of the next seven points out of the break to grab a 17-10 advantage and cruised to the 25-17 win.
- Notre Dame evened the match at one with a 25-19 second-set win. Six unanswered points allowed the squad to take control of the frame and the Irish led from the point.
- In the third set, NC State scored six consecutive points with Kaitlyn Kearney at the service line to take a 15-9 lead after a kill from Kylie Pickrell.
- A block assist from Bree Bailey and Kearney resulted in a Notre Dame timeout at 23-14 and Brown finished off the set with a kill from the outside to lift the Wolfpack to a 2-1 lead.
- The Fighting Irish countered with a strong fourth set to knot the match at two apiece, as ND pulled away with three successive points after the Wolfpack trimmed the lead to 22-21.
- NC State quickly grabbed a 3-0 lead in the decisive fifth set, following a huge solo block from Sopitan.
- Four unanswered points extended the Pack's advantage to 11-4 and NCSU closed out the set by winning the final three rallies.
- A service ace by Kearney gave the squad match point and Sopitan capped the match with a kill from the middle to give NC State the 15-7 fifth-set win and 3-2 victory.
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Top Performers
- Four different players reached double-digit kills in the contest for the first time this season, highlighted by Brown and freshman Melissa Evans each with 15.
- Sopitan tallied 13 kills and only had one miscue to record a .571 attacking percentage. Bailey also reached double figures with 10 kills.
- At setter, Pickrell dished out a match-high and season-high 56 assists to go along with 10 digs and eight blocks, tallying her fifth double-double of the year.
- Defensively, Sopitan and Kearney both tallied season-highs with nine blocks each and Evans had a season-high seven.
- Harris collected a career-best 26 digs and Brown also had a career-best with 23 to log her sixth double-double.
- Sophomore Grace Irvin pitched in with 13 digs and Makenzie Kuchmaner contributed 11.
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Up Next
NC State returns to action Friday evening when the Wolfpack hits the road for the first time in ACC play this season. The Pack travels to Georgia Tech Friday for a 7 p.m. tilt and Clemson Sunday for a 1 p.m. first serve.
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Team Stats
ND
ST
Kills
48
62
Errors
32
29
Attempts
179
179
Hitting %
.089
.184
Points
67.5
82.5
Assists
45
62
Aces
4
2
Blocks
15.5
18.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
15
Aces
0
Blocks
7
Kills
15
Aces
1
Blocks
0
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
9
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballOPP
/ Women's Volleyball
DS/L
/ Women's Volleyball
DS/L
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
DS/L
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's VolleyballMB
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