Groom Ties Career High as Pack Takes Down Blue Devils, 3-1

Sunday, September 27

1PM

NC State

10-3,1-1ACC

Duke

9-3,1-1ACC

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Duke	18	22	25	21	1
NC State	25	25	20	25	3

Sophie Groom on a slide attack vs Duke 9/27/26

Groom Ties Career High as Pack Takes Down Blue Devils, 3-1

9/27/2026 5:25:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State volleyball team bounced back to defeat Duke in four sets Sunday afternoon to move to 1-1 in conference action and 10-3 overall.

Middle blocker Sophie Groom posted 14 kills to tie a career high to help lead the Pack offensively. Freshman Britni Silver added 15 kills while senior Clara Vondran added 11 for the Pack's offensive efforts.

Set-By-Set Summary
One: NC State set the tone early behind an unstoppable offensive rhythm, hitting .452 with 17 kills. Britni Silver and Talia Francom spearheaded the early runs, establishing a comfortable margin early. The Pack took the set, 25-18.
Two: The most contested frame of the night featured 12 ties and 5 lead changes. Duke surged ahead mid-set, but key late blocks from Sophia Groom and Jordan Smith flipped momentum back to the Wolfpack for it to take the frame, 25-22.
Three: Duke fought back with their strongest offensive set, hitting .343 on 16 kills. NC State dropped the set, 20-25, despite a late scoring run to minimize the deficit.
Four: NC State re-established net control (hitting .333) and built an 11–4 lead. Despite a fierce Duke comeback to tie it at 20–20, Elaisa Villar delivered key service aces and Sophia Groom capped off the victory with match point.

Match Notes

Fifth-year Sophie Groom led the Pack with a .667 hitting percentage after finishing with 14 kills and zero errors on 21 attempts. Her 14 kills tied a career high set in 2023 when she played at Stetson.
Senior outside Clara Vondran stuffed the stat sheet with 11 kills, nine digs, two blocks and a service ace. She hit .323 on the afternoon after recording just one error on 31 attempts.
The Pack hit a game high .452 in the opening frame with a 73-percent sideout rate.
NC State out-performed Duke I kills (53-49), blocks (10.0-3.0) and aces (7-5).
The win marked the 841^st in program history, 223^rd ACC win in program history, 36^th all-time win over Duke, 25^th win under head coach Megan Wargo Kearney, 10^th win of the season and first conference win of the season.

Stat Leaders
Kills: Britni Silver (15)
Assists: Eva Long (43)
Blocks: Sophie Groom (4.0)
Digs: Zuzia Maciejewicz (14)
Aces: Eva Long (2), Elaisa Villar (2)

Next Up
The Pack will head south to the sunshine state as it faces Florida State and Miami. NC State will face the Seminoles in Tallahassee on Friday, Oct. 2 at 6pm and the game will be streamed on ACCNX.