NC State Volleyball Edged in Hard-Fought Battle with #6 Pitt, 3-1

RALEIGH, N.C. – Despite recording a season-high 17 blocks, the NC State volleyball team came up short in a hard-fought battle with No. 6 Pittsburgh, 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 20-25, 23-25), Sunday afternoon inside Reynolds Coliseum.

The Wolfpack's 17 blocks are tied for the fifth most in a match by an ACC team this season and second most in a four-set match. That mark is also tied for the fourth highest in the rally-scoring era in program history and most since last year's match at Notre Dame on Oct. 24 (18).

Unbeaten Pittsburgh (20-0, 8-0 ACC) has lost just three sets in conference play this season, including NC State's (9-9, 3-5 ACC) 25-22 second-set win.

The match featured 29 ties and nine lead changes, but the Wolfpack was unable to hand the Panthers their first loss of the year as they remain one of two undefeated teams in the nation. Last season, NC State earned the 3-1 win at Pittsburgh to hand the Panthers their first conference loss after they opened ACC play at 9-0.

Quoting Hampton-Keith
Overall thoughts...
"It hurts to play so well and not get the result you want," said head coach Linda Hampton-Keith. "We played really, really well and did so many great things, so to not get what you want is disappointing.

"Our blocking was phenomenal. Now we have to move forward, and the expectation is that we play as well as we did today."

Match Rewind
- Pitt started fast in the match, as the Panthers jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the opening set, but NC State trimmed the deficit to 7-6 following a block from Lauryn Terry and Melissa Evans.
- A 4-0 run, capped by a kill from Jade Parchment, gave the Wolfpack a 15-14 lead at the media timeout.
- After NC State pulled ahead 21-19, Pitt responded to win six of the next seven points to take the opening set, 25-22.
- The Panthers raced out to a 6-0 advantage in the second set, but the Wolfpack didn't panic and battled back to trim the margin to 11-9 after a 6-1 run.
- With the set knotted at 21-21, senior Teni Sopitan tallied a kill from the outside to spark a 4-1 run, as NC State went on to win the frame, 25-22.
- NCSU took a 10-9 lead in the fourth set following an attacking error by Pitt, but the Panthers countered with four unanswered points to grab a 13-10 lead.
- Lauryn Terry cut the margin to 19-17, but Pitt countered to win the set, 25-20.
- NC State was on fire to start the fourth set, jumping out to a 7-1 lead forcing Pitt to take a timeout.
- The Panthers pulled ahead later in the frame, 23-21, but a block from Terry and Kylie Pickrell along with an attacking error by Pitt knotted the fourth set at 23.
- Unfortunately for NC State, Pitt tallied consecutive points out of a timeout to win the fourth, 25-23, and the match, 3-1.

Top Performers
- Sopitan led the Pack with 14 kills, while Parchment pitched in with 12.
- Evans also reached double figures with 11 and Keira Moore put down six kills.
- Pickrell tallied a match-high 36 assists to go along with nine digs, three blocks and three kills.
- Defensively, senior libero Makenzie Kuchmaner tied for the match-high with 17 digs.

Up Next
NC State returns to action at Boston College on Friday, Oct. 19, as the Wolfpack will begin another four-match road swing. First serve is set for 7:30 p.m. inside Power Gym.

NC State Volleyball Edged in Hard-Fought Battle with #6 Pitt, 3-1

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Team Stats

Teni Sopitan

Jade Parchment

Melissa Evans

Keira Moore

Players Mentioned

Melissa Evans

Makenzie Kuchmaner

Keira Moore

Jade Parchment

Kylie Pickrell

Teni Sopitan

Lauryn Terry

Players Mentioned

Melissa Evans

Makenzie Kuchmaner

Keira Moore

Jade Parchment

Kylie Pickrell

Teni Sopitan

Lauryn Terry