Volleyball Splits a Pair of Matches at Home Invitational

Friday, September 7

Raleigh, N.C.

2 P.M.

NC State

4-2

Wright State

5-2

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Wright State	20	12	22	0
NC State	25	25	25	3

Photo by: Chris Baird

Volleyball Splits a Pair of Matches at Home Invitational

9/7/2018 11:22:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score (WSU)Box Score (UVU)

Wolfpack records a season-high .377 attacking percentage

RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State volleyball team opened play in the Wolfpack-Camels Invitational with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-12, 25-22) sweep against Wright State, highlighted by a season-high .377 team attacking percentage but came up short in its second match of the day suffering a five-set (25-23, 21-25, 23-25, 25-21, 9-15) loss to Utah Valley Friday evening inside Reynolds Coliseum.

Hosted in conjunction with Campbell, the Wolfpack rolled past the Wright State Raiders with its best offensive performance of the season before running into a pesky Utah Valley team that would not be denied in the nightcap. NCSU's .377 team attacking percentage is the eighth-highest mark in the ACC this season.

Sophomore Melissa Evans tallied a match-high 18 kills versus the Raiders, which is the most by any player in the ACC in a three-set match this season. The Lone Tree, Colo., native also logged a career-best .571 attacking percentage with only two errors on 28 attempts.

NC State moves to 4-3 on the year, while Wright State is 5-2 and Utah Valley is 8-3.

Quoting Hampton-Keith
Overall thoughts...
"I thought Utah Valley was a really great defensive team," said third-year head coach Linda Hampton-Keith. "They challenged us and continued to get better as the match went on. They went five sets last night against Campbell and five sets earlier today against Appalachian State.

"They were a different kind of team that we haven't seen yet, and we really struggled to make the adjustments that we needed to."

Match Rewind Versus Wright State
- NC State started strong against the Raiders, as the Wolfpack jumped out to a 12-6 lead in the first set after a kill from Jade Parchment to force a Wright State timeout.
- After the Raiders rallied to narrow the NCSU advantage to 17-15, the Pack responded with three unanswered points en route to the 25-20 win in the opening set.
- The second set was close until senior libero Makenzie Kuchmaner took over, as she served 13 consecutive rallies and NC State scored 12 consecutive points to pull away at 23-10 and went on to win the frame, 25-12.
- The Wolfpack tallied 21 kills in the second set, which is the most in any set this season, and only committed one attacking error on 30 attempts to log a .667 team attacking percentage.
- In the third set, Kuchmaner struck again as she served seven consecutive rallies and NC State erased a 3-0 deficit to take a 7-3 advantage.
- After the score was tied at 19-19, Teni Sopitan tallied a kill from the outside and followed with a block assist along with Keira Moore to give the Pack a two-point lead and NCSU closed out the set with a 25-22 win to sweep the match.

Top Performers
- Evans' 18 kills led all players and she also contributed six digs and two blocks.
- Parchment also turned in a strong performance, as she put down 13 kills in addition to a .344 attacking percentage with only two miscues on 32 swings.
- Sopitan and Lauryn Terry each tallied seven kills.
- Senior setter Kylie Pickrell handed out 37 assists and recorded 10 digs to log her second consecutive double-double.
- Kuchmaner enjoyed one of her best outings in a Wolfpack uniform, as she collected 19 digs, nine assists and three service aces.

Match Rewind versus Utah Valley
- Trailing 17-13 in the first set, NC State went on a 7-0 run to take a 20-17 lead thanks to stellar serving from Kristen Chatman, which included a pair of aces.
- Consecutive kills from Sopitan gave the squad set point and an attacking error by UVU put NC State ahead 1-0 in the match.
- Utah Valley edged NC State down the stretch in the second to even the match at one apiece, as the Wolverines won seven of the final nine points.
- The Wolfpack fell behind 21-14 in the third set but fought back in the frame to even the frame at 23-23 after an 8-1 run.
- Unfortunately, consecutive kills from UVU's Kristen Allred followed to close out the set.
- NC State was strong in the fourth set, recording its best team attacking percentage of the match in the frame with a .316 clip with only four errors.
- Three consecutive kills from Evans gave the Pack momentum down the stretch and NC State won it, 25-21.
- NCSU jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the decisive fifth set, but five unanswered points put Utah Valley ahead, 6-3, and NC State could not make up the difference as UVU held off any would-be rallies.

Top Performers
- Sopitan headlined the Wolfpack offense in the second match of the day with 19 kills.
- Evans also notched 18 kills in her second match of the day and logged 12 digs to chart her third career double-double performance.
- Pickrell led all players in the contest with 53 assists.
- Defensively, Kuchmaner tallied a match-high 22 digs, while Grace Irvin had 12.

Up Next
NC State will return to action Sunday afternoon when the squad welcomes the Campbell Camels to Reynolds Coliseum. First serve is slated for 2 p.m.