Match Stats
NC State Teni Sopitan led all players with 14 kills on a .542 hitting percentage. Setter Maggie Speaks handed out 33 assists, picked up seven digs and was a perfect 5-for-5 in kills. Rachel Eppley picked up 12 digs, a match-high.
The Orange’s Anastasiya Gorelina recorded seven kills and picked up five digs. Belle Sand posted a team-high 11 digs.
Press Release
Courtesy of NC State Athletics
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – First-year head coach Linda Hampton-Keith picked up her first Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) victory Sunday afternoon, as the NC State volleyball team cruised past Syracuse in straight sets, 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-20), inside the Women’s Building.
The Wolfpack improves to 8-6 overall and 1-1 in ACC play, while the Orange fall to 2-10 and are also 1-1 in conference action.
Quoting Hampton-Keith
Opening statement…
“I’m very proud of this team for their performance today,” said Hampton-Keith. “We don’t take winning for granted and we certainly appreciate how difficult it is to win on the road in this conference. It showed a lot of maturity to respond the way we did when we were being pressured by Syracuse.”
On the play on Teni Sopitan…
“Teni did a great job today of staying steady and taking advantage of the opportunities she was given to score points for us.”
On picking up the first ACC win on the road…
“This conference is tough and we talked about how tough it is to win on the road so to walk away with the first conference win being a sweep – I told the team it was impressive and I’m very proud of them.”
Worth Noting
– Sunday’s contest was the ninth all-time meeting between the teams, as NC State moves to 7-2 in the series and 3-1 against Syracuse as ACC opponents.
– NC State finished the match with a .340 attacking percentage as a team, its second highest this season, while limiting the ‘Cuse to a .144 clip.
– The Wolfpack tallied seven blocks to the Orange’s six and remains unbeaten this season when recording more blocks than its opponent at 6-0.
– Freshman Jessica Kemp made her first career start in the match.
Match Rewind
– NC State started the match strong, recording a team attacking percentage of .364 in the first set, while Syracuse hit just .176 and never led in the set.
– Following a kill by sophomore Teni Sopitan and a block assist from Kaitlyn Kearney and Maggie Speaks to extend the Wolfpack lead to 13-7, Syracuse called a timeout to try and stop the run.
– With NC State leading 20-13, the Wolfpack scored three unanswered points to stretch the advantage to 23-13, resulting in the use of Syracuse’s final timeout of the frame.
– The teams traded the next four rallies and Kearney capped the set for the Pack with a solo block to give NCSU the 25-15 set win and a 1-0 lead in the match.
– In the second set, Syracuse raced out to an early advantage, but the Wolfpack chipped away at the lead and evened the score at 12 later in the set with a 4-0 run.
– After an NC State service error to make it 13-12 in favor of the Orange, Sopitan put down back-to-back kills before Kemp and Ramsey teamed up on the block to give the Wolfpack a lead it never relinquished again at 15-13.
– The Wolfpack closed out the frame on a 5-1 run to earn the 25-18 second-set victory to take a 2-0 lead in the contest.
– The third set was tightly contested, as neither team could pull away until three consecutive points gave NC State a 15-12 lead forcing a Syracuse timeout.
– Syracuse reeled off three unanswered points resulting in an NC State timeout and then the Wolfpack scored three consecutive points resulting in a timeout by the Orange at 21-18.
– Sophomore Emily Harris gave NCSU match point with a service ace and Speaks capped the match with a kill to lift NC State to a 25-20 third-set win and 3-0 sweep in the overall match.
Top Performers
– Sopitan led all players with 14 kills in the contest and a career-best .542 attacking percentage, as she only had one error on 24 attempts.
– Junior Julia Brown swatted 11 kills, while Ramsey had nine.
– At the setter position, Speaks dished out 33 assists to go along with seven digs. She was a perfect 5-for-5 on kill attempts.
– Senior Rachel Eppley tallied a match-high 12 digs and freshman Grace Irvin charted six digs along with Brown.
Up Next
NC State will continue its three-match road swing Friday, Sept. 30, when the squad travels to Clemson. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. inside Jervey Gym in Clemson, S.C., and the match will be broadcast live on the ACC Network Extra.
Press Release
Courtesy of Syracuse Athletics
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse volleyball team fell to NC State in three sets (15-25, 18-25, 20-25) on Sunday afternoon at the Women’s Building.
The Orange (2-10, 1-1 ACC) were led offensively by sophomore Anastasiya Gorelina, who tallied seven kills on the night. Gorelina also had five digs.
Freshman Kendra Lukacs contributed six kills, while the trio of freshmen Mackenzie Weaver and Polina Prokudina along with sophomore Santita Ebangwese had four kills apiece.
On defense, junior Belle Sand led the digging effort with 11.
Three Orange in sophomore Jalissa Trotter, Lukacs and Ebangwese tallied a service ace each.
NC State (8-6, 1-1 ACC) was able to set and maintain the tone in the first set, as the Orange trailed the Wolfpack 20-11. Despite a kill from Ebangwese and a service ace from Trotter, NC State closed out the set on top, 25-15.
The second set began much differently than the first, as ‘Cuse took its first lead of the game off of an 8-1 run to sit atop NC State, 10-5. The pair traded places as a 7-2 Wolfpack run forced Syracuse to call its first timeout of the set with the game tied, 12-12.
The Orange surrendered the lead after the timeout, and NC State was able to pull away and close out set two on top, 25-18.
Set three was tied a total of seven times early on, before the Wolfpack was able to capitalize on a 6-3 run to take the lead, 13-10.
The match stayed within no more than four points, until the Orange took a 3-0 run even the score at 18.
A 7-2 Wolfpack run closed out the set, 25-20, and sealed the game for NC State, 3-0.
The Orange hit the road next weekend to play at Florida State on Friday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. and at Miami on Sunday, Oct. 2 at 12 p.m.
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