In the second match of the weekend, the NC State volleyball team was swept 3-0 by No. 14 Louisville on Sunday, March 28, bringing the Pack’s record below .500. This is the Pack’s second lopsided loss this weekend after being swept by No. 22 Georgia Tech on Saturday. 

NC State (8-9, 7-9 ACC) just couldn’t keep up with the dominant Louisville (12-2, 10-2 ACC) team, who overtook the Pack in almost every statistical category. Junior outside hitter Jade Parchment led NC State in points (12), digs (8), kills (12) and hitting percentage (.360). 

Louisville started off strong in the first set, scoring the first two points before trading points with the Pack for the rest of the set. NC State had a seven-point streak towards the end of the set, holding Louisville at 23 points while the Pack caught up to tie up the score. But the Pack’s efforts weren’t enough to secure the win in the set and Louisville took it by two points, 26-24. 

NC State secured the first points in the second set and maintained the lead until Louisville tied the score at five points. The Pack was still able to get back ahead of the Cardinals until Louisville caught up to NC State and tied the score again at 16 points. The teams traded points until the Cardinals widened their lead by two points, and the Pack wasn’t able to reciprocate, eventually losing the set 25-22. 

The third set was by far the worst for NC State, where it was held to a single-digit score until Louisville was at 18 points. The Cardinals once again secured the first two points, before NC State made its way onto the scoreboard. Louisville had many opportunities that it took to extend the lead on consecutive plays. The lead was too much for the Pack to overcome and NC State fell in the final set 25-13, allowing the Cardinals to sweep the match 3-0. 

Parchment showed up for this team today, but with other players like senior opposite hitter Melissa Evans not putting up significant numbers, there wasn’t a way for this NC State team to succeed against a ranked team like Louisville. Louisville put up better numbers in every category, leading in hitting percentage, assists and kills. 

The Wolfpack will return to play next weekend in Tallahassee, Florida to take on Syracuse on Friday, April 2 at 2 p.m.