RALEIGH – Tonight, the NC State women’s volleyball team took on the Clemson Tigers in historic Reynolds Coliseum at 7pm. The Wolfpack won in 4 sets (25-21, 19-25, 25-12, 25-18) which marks their 4th win in a row moving them to 13-2 in ACC play and 18-8 overall.
The Wolfpack showed their power hitters early when Graduate student Bree Bailey slammed down two quick kills in the first set. The Tigers (7-19) showed some fight early which kept the Pack on their toes.
The Tigers pulled ahead 17-11 and it was then second-year head coach, Linda Hampton-Keith, decided her team needed to re-group and called a timeout. Down 19-12, the Wolfpack pried away at the Tigers lead with the help of senior outside hitter Julia Brown when she recorded 4 important kills and 1 block to seal the victory 25-21.
Coming out of the huddle for the start of the second set you could see the Pack’s team chemistry as they danced on the court. The second set was all Clemson. The Tigers kept a lead throughout at one point leading the Pack 22-14. With the help of power hitters Kailey Harvell and Kaylin Korte the Tigers tied that match at 1-1 with a 25-19 set win.
It appeared that the intermission break was just what Hampton-Keith and her team needed. The team came out blazing and took advantage of Clemson’s many unforced errors. The Tigers never held the lead and lost the set 25-12.
The fourth and potentially final set started similarly to the first. Points were being traded back and forth but you could soon tell that the Pack wanted this to be the final set of the match.
The match started moving in their favor when it seemed like every Clemson point was followed by an error and the Wolfpack took advantage. Lead by Bailey and junior Teni Sopitan the Wolfpack closed out the match with a 25-18 set win.
Final stats show domination by the Wolfpack on all levels. The team recorded 60 kills to Clemson’s 39. Even though Clemson lead the night with 10 total blocks, NC State’s hitting percentage of .257 to Clemson’s .081 clearly exemplifies how they came away with the win.
The Pack were led by Bree Bailey’s 16 kills, Teni Sopitan (15), and Julia Brown (13). The Tigers were led by Kaylin Korte with 13 kills, Kailey Harvell (11), and Megan McGinley (5).
The Pack will look to continue their undefeated streak at home when they take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Saturday, November 11 in Reynolds at 5PM.