In a complete turn-around from last season, NC State volleyball won its seventh game in a row against the University of Texas-El Paso in the final game of the Bobcat Invitational.
The Pack (8-1) came into the early-morning matchup riding the momentum of a 2-0 day on Friday. The Miners (6-2) also had a two-game win streak at the tournament before taking on the red-and-white.
The first set was back and forth — neither team was able to create a strong lead — but the Pack was able to take away a 25-21 win to bring the match to 1-0. Junior middle blocker Jada Allen started the game off strong, taking the first point of the match with a kill.
It was in the second set where the red-and-white lost some of its groove, falling to the Miners 25-16. Late-set surges from UTEP halted the Pack from making any runs, as well as its intense blocking set-up that halted sophomore outside hitter Ava Brizzard and junior opposite hitter Amanda Rice from putting up early kills.
Brizard wasn’t stuck the whole match, though, as she led the team with 16 kills and 13 digs. Adding to her already well-rounded resume, she recorded one block assist and a service ace by the end of the match.
The third set saw a complete flip in score, as the Pack put the match at 2-1 with a score of 25-16. Starting out on a three-point streak, the red-and-white didn’t let its foot off the gas. Rice tallied five kills in this set alone, followed by Brizard with four.
The fourth and final set sealed the Wolfpack win. Two block assists from Rice and senior middle blocker Riley Shaak got the Pack going and the team kept the energy alive throughout the set. Redshirt junior outside hitter Madison Williams also helped her team out with four kills through the set.
NC State has started the 2023 season off stronger than 2022, as the latter season saw a 6-3 start in the first nine games.
The Pack will travel back to Raleigh for a two-game home stretch starting against UNC-Charlotte on Tuesday, Sept. 12 with the first serve set for 6 p.m.
