NC State volleyball falls 3-2 to Miami on the road

Kat Peters, Staff Writer • October 7, 2023

Sophomore outside hitter Courtney Bryant hits the ball past blockers during the match against Louisville in Reynolds Coliseum on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. Bryant made 13 digs. The Wolfpack defeated the Cardinals 3-1.

NC State volleyball fell to Miami in a back-and-forth, five-set match on Friday, Oct. 6. The Pack held its own against the Hurricanes but failed to close it out with a win.

The first set started evenly matched until Miami (11-5, 4-2 ACC) was able to pull ahead with a 3-0 run halfway through that put them ahead of the Pack (13-3, 3-2 ACC), who was unable to close the gap. Graduate setter Kristen McDaniel led the Wolfpack in assists for the night with 32, including six in the first set.

After Miami took the first set 25-21, NC State continued its high energy into the second set, beginning the same way as the first. The Pack finished on a 5-0 scoring run to take the set from Miami and tie the game up. The Hurricanes struggled with attack and service errors in this set, recording nine, which gave the red-and-white a chance to gain its offensive footing.

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The Pack came out swinging in the third set, carrying lots of momentum from an exciting second set. NC State had four scoring runs of three or four points in the third set that gave it a steady rhythm to fall into. But as NC State lost momentum, Miami was able to pull ahead to put the Pack down 2-1.

The Wolfpack got an early lead in the fourth that it retained through most of the set, only allowing the Hurricanes to overtake it once before the red-and-white had a 6-1 scoring run to take the set. Sophomore outside hitters Ava Brizard and Courtney Bryant both had over four kills in this set, contributing to an aggressive Pack offense.

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Tied at 2-2, the match went to a fifth and final set. McDaniel put up four assists in this set and had help from senior setter Naomi Campbell, who recorded three. The Pack put up a good fight in this last set, going on a 6-0 run to tie the score up at 14-14. But after two NC State errors, Miami took the last two points to win the match.

Up next, the Pack will stay in Florida for a matchup against the Florida State Seminoles on Oct. 8. The match is set for 1 p.m.