NC State Volleyball Takes Down Duke in Five-Set Thriller

Sunday, November 4

Raleigh, N.C.

2 P.M.

NC State

12-12, 6-8ACC

Duke

14-9, 8-6ACC

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Duke	23	25	21	25	13	2
NC State	25	17	25	20	15	3

Photo by: Chris Baird

NC State Volleyball Takes Down Duke in Five-Set Thriller

11/4/2018 6:14:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score

Wolfpack earns third consecutive win against Blue Devils at home

RALEIGH, N.C. – In the lone meeting between the programs this season, the NC State volleyball team won a five-set thriller (3-2: 25-23, 17-25, 25-21, 20-25, 15-13) against the Duke Blue Devils Sunday afternoon inside Reynolds Coliseum.

The teams traded sets throughout the afternoon, as the Wolfpack won the first, third and fifth, while the Blue Devils took the second and fourth sets.

With the win, third-year head coach Linda Hampton-Keith remains unbeaten against Duke at home with a perfect 3-0 mark thanks to a 3-1 win in 2016 and a 3-0 victory last year. The last time the Wolfpack won three consecutive home matches versus the Blue Devils was 1986-1988.

NC State moves to 12-12 on the year and 6-8 in ACC play, while Duke falls to 14-9 and 8-6 in conference action.

Quoting Hampton-Keith
Overall thoughts...
"Obviously, we're thrilled to get the win," said Hampton-Keith. "Two earn two-five set matches at home this weekend after being on the road for so long is awesome. It was a good weekend."

On the defensive effort from both teams...
"It was a really interesting defensive battle. There were a lot of non-traditional plays with players chasing down a lot of balls and I think that speaks to the relentlessness of both teams and how much each team wanted the win.

"We out-dug them, but they had more blocks than us and out-hit us but I think it was a will power kind of match in terms of the timing when the points came."

Match Rewind
- NC State opened the match on fire, as the Wolfpack jumped out to an 8-3 lead after a block assist from Keira Moore and Melissa Evans to force a Duke timeout.
- Consecutive kills from Teni Sopitan gave the Pack a 24-18 advantage, but the Blue Devils didn't go down without a fight as they scored five unanswered points.
- With the Wolfpack leading 24-23, Sopitan tallied another kill from the outside to give NC State a 1-0 lead in the overall match.
- Duke started fast in the second set, as the Blue Devils went on a 4-0 run to take a 9-4 lead, but the Pack battled to cut the margin to 11-9 after a service ace from Grace Irvin.
- Unfortunately, Duke countered by winning six of the next eight points en route to the 25-17 second-set win.
- NC State raced out to a 7-3 lead in the third set following a kill from Sopitan and held a 15-11 advantage at the media timeout.
- A 5-2 run pushed the Pack's advantage to 22-18 after a service ace from Evans, resulting in a Duke timeout.
- Back-to-back kills from Sopitan gave the Wolfpack a 25-21 win and 2-1 lead in the match.
- The Blue Devils knotted the match at two thanks to a strong fourth set, as a kill from Moore trimmed NC State's deficit to 21-18 but Duke won four of the next six points to win the frame.
- In the fifth set, the Pack never trailed en route to the 15-13 win, although there were six ties.
- Three consecutive points gave NC State a 12-9 and a kill from Moore forced a timeout at 13-10.
- After Sopitan tallied a kill to give the Pack match point at 14-10, Duke scored three consecutive points to trim the margin to 14-13.
- Fortunately for NC State, after a timeout Sopitan put down a kill from the outside to clinch the match.

Top Performers
- Three different players turned in double-double performances for the Wolfpack, as Evans put down 15 kills to go along with 14 digs. Jade Parchment also charted a double-double with 14 digs and 12 kills.
- Sopitan led all players in the contest with 21 kills and Moore logged six.
- At setter, Kylie Pickrell handed out a match-high 50 assists in addition to 17 digs, five kills and two blocks.
- Defensively, libero Makenzie Kuchmaner collected 26 digs and Irvin pitched in with nine.

Up Next
NC State will return to action on November 9 when the Wolfpack makes a trip to Notre Dame for its final road match of the season. First serve is set for 8 p.m. inside Purcell Pavilion.