NC State volleyball wrapped up its weekend invitational with a 3-1 loss against Washington State at Reynolds Coliseum on Sunday.
It marked the Wolfpack’s (1-1) first home loss since last season against Kansas during its home opener. The Pack lost the first set to the Cougars (2-0) 25-14, spending the set trailing the Cougars who had swept VCU 3-0 the day before. The second set was close until the Cougars pulled away after reaching 15 points and took the second set 25-17. The Pack finally won in the third set 25-22. The fourth and final set took a rough turn for the Pack, losing 25-8.
“We knew we were challenging ourselves by playing them which was good,” head coach Linda Hampton-Keith said. “There was definitely some good things and definite improvements that need to be made. When it was good it was really good, and we saw some really bright spots in our play. The frustrating part was there were a lot of things in our control that we thought we weren’t controlling.”
Although the Pack was able to obtain the first point of the first set, the Cougars quickly gained control, going on a 5-0 run which put them ahead for the remainder of the set. The run was, however, broken by freshman outside hitter Jade Parchment. From there the Pack steadily closed the gap 8-6.
A kill from sophomore outside hitter Melissa Evans rebounded off the blockers hands and out of bounds for the Pack to come within one point, 10-9.
The Wolfpack stayed close behind the Cougars, trying to close the gap but to no avail. From there, the Pack lost its steady gain on the Cougars and fell further behind, 20-13, despite the coach calling timeouts to try and gather the team.
The Cougars finished off the Pack 25-14, earning them a 1-0 advantage.
The second set was a long fought battle as the Cougars returned with their set advantage from the first. The two teams were trading off points in the beginning of the match until the Cougars started to pull away again 12-8.
The Pack wasn’t going to lose another set without a fight and closed the gap 12-11 after a solo block from senior middle blocker Teni Sopitan. The Cougars didn’t lose their momentum from the first set though and started to pull away 17-13. Soon after, the Cougars claimed another set 25-17.
“I think we need to get in the gym. Playing Washington State exposed a lot of our weaknesses that we have,” Sopitan said. “We need to work on serve receive and finding different ways of scoring.”
With a 2-0 disadvantage, the Wolfpack returned to the court for the third set where the beginning of the set was once again very close in score. A kill from Evans gave the Pack the lead 7-5.
Although the Cougars fought hard to keep the lead in the third set, the Wolfpack was closely behind and tied up the score at 15 before the Cougars could increase their lead on the Pack.
The Pack was finally able to take the lead in the later part of the set for the first time in the game 17-15. From there, the Pack that defeated VCU could be seen as it started to take control of the set.
The Pack reached set point 24-21 but the Cougars were close behind, threatening to come back. The Pack held them off and took its first set 25-22.
The Cougars were able to go on a 10-0 run against the Pack in the fourth set, putting the Cougars in the lead 14-3. The Pack took two timeouts during the run to try and break the Cougars momentum, but the damage was done as the Pack was in a 10-point deficit.
Although the Pack made a valiant effort, the team could not close such a large difference in points, losing the fourth and final set 25-8.
“They’re going to be a top 25 team so it’s about seeing how we do against them and what we need to improve on in the future games,” Evans said. “I think we lacked communication and trust and I think we emphasized that in the third set, but the last set we didn’t know what to do.”
Sopitan was the lead scorer for the Wolfpack with 26 kills and 34 points in today’s matchup.
“It’s cool and everything but it’s my teammates that set me up for that, it wasn’t something I achieved by myself,” Sopitan said.
The Wolfpack will serve again on Friday for the SMU Doubletree Classic in Dallas, Texas at 12:30 p.m.
