The NC State volleyball team defeated the Duke Blue Devils 3-2 following a career match by star senior opposite hitter Melissa Evans on Friday, Feb. 26 inside Reynolds Coliseum.
NC State (5-4, 4-4 ACC) previously lost to Duke (8-3, 6-2 ACC) in back-to-back matches to begin the 2020 fall season, losing 3-2 and then 3-1. However, the Pack was able to come away with its fifth straight win, paced by Evans, who put up a career-high 24 kills to go along with 14 digs and three blocks.
“It’s a good win I mean come on we got away with a murder,” said head coach Luka Slabe. “We gotta be happy that we started 2021 with a win against a tough rival. I would like to thank them that they came to Reynolds and played us in a nonconference competition. It was great to host them and it’s good that we actually pulled out what we were able to pull out. Like I said we got away with a murder and we’re not gonna win many matches like this, the way we played.”
Over winter break, one of the fundamentals that Slabe emphasized the most was cutting back on simple errors, serving or attacking. It seemed as if the message was loud and clear, as the Pack committed just two attack errors and one service error in the first set. Comparatively, Duke had seven such combined errors in the same timeframe. However, the Wolfpack ended the match with 24 attacking errors, with Duke protecting the net very well.
The second set saw freshman middle blocker Riley Shaak help pace the team with strong hits, something she had shown in the first set. Shaak finished the match with a .500 hit percentage. Unfortunately for the Pack, Duke was able to go on a 10-1 run midway through the set, with Duke’s Mackenzie Cole slaughtering the Wolfpack on the serve.
“Yeah Riley [Shaak] stepped up,” Slabe said. “We set her I think 16 times. She hit a high clip and killed nine balls and that’s what we need from middle blockers.”
Despite back-to-back kills by middle/right side hitter Lydia Adam and an added one from Evans amidst a back and forth late in the set, the Blue Devils were able to come away with the 25-14 set to tie the match at one apiece.
With Duke up big in the third set, junior outside hitter Jade Parchment hit two absolute rockets of kills back to back, to bring the Pack back within striking distance. Sophomore setter Kristen McDaniel and Evans were able to get in on the fun, with McDaniel assisting Evans on three straight kills.
“I think when we were in the huddle we just told each other to just trust what we have been doing all week,” McDaniel said. “The system that we have in place does work, we have been successful with it, so we just told each other to take it one point at a time, don’t look at the score and to keep pushing.”
While Evans and Parchment will deservedly get a lot of attention for the sheer amount of kills they put up in the match, McDaniel earned a massive spotlight, nearing her career high of 50 assists, after putting up a whopping 45 assists in the match. McDaniel was 17th nationally in the fall season in assists per set with 10.17, putting up nine assists per set in this match after perfectly setting her teammates.
“Competition is getting harder not easier,” Slabe said. “So passing is gonna be number one and [McDaniel] is gonna have the opportunity to distribute that ball a little bit better with more options. I like that [Parchment] came back and dug herself down deep, [Evans] took some nice swings at the very end where we needed her and a couple stuffed blocks and tough serves and that’s game set match right there. I’m happy for the girls, we’re gonna have to break this game down and watch and talk, we have a lot of work to do.”
The third set came down to the wire, with the Pack ultimately winning 25-23 to go up 2-1 in the match. After the team went down by as much as six three separate times in the period, Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Taylor Rowland and Shaak came down with the block assist, causing an attacking error by Duke’s Gracie Johnson to take the edge.
Once again, the fourth set of the match was evened up late after a surge of energy from the Pack, at 22 apiece. NC State picked up steam midway through the set, scoring five of six straight points, going from down 17-13 to tied at 18 apiece led by junior middle blocker Pam Chukwujekwu and Evans. This time was different though, as Duke scored three of the four ensuing points, two of which were off errors by the Pack, to take the set 25-23.
Fortunately for the Pack, the squad was able to grab an early lead in the final set and never let it go to claim their first victory of its spring season. NC State was able to stay solid to the end with four straight kills between Evans and Rowland to push the Wolfpack to a 13-6 lead. Following the strong offensive attack put up by the Pack, Parchment was able to finish off the Blue Devils with an ace and another strong serve which forced an error on Duke. By pushing the set to 15, the Wolfpack was able to claim the set point as well as the match.
“I think everyone over break definitely put in a lot of work and when we came back we kept going and trusting the process,” McDaniel said. “I think that really showed and everyone did a really good job this game.”
Next up, NC State will take on Notre Dame and Miami on back-to-back days on Friday, Mar. 5, and Saturday, Mar. 6, respectively. The match against Notre Dame is set to begin at 7 p.m. in South Bend, Indiana.
“It was a really good game against Duke, Duke is a really good team,” McDaniel said. “Definitely super stoked about beating them. Same thing, just keep pushing and keep the same momentum going forward for the rest of the season.”
Freshman middle blocker Riley Shaak serves against Duke on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021 at Reynolds Coliseum. Shaak recorded nine kills as the Wolfpack won in five sets.
