Cal takes the second set 25-21. Bears now up 2-0.

Cal sweeps the Wolfpack by winning the last set 25-14 or something like that.

First match I have watched this year and the girls looked completely out of sorts. Routine plays were difficult most of this match.

The NC State volleyball team fell to Cal in straight sets Sunday afternoon at Haas Pavilion.

The Wolfpack moves to 7-5 on the season and 2-2 in conference play.

Breaking Down the Match
The opening frame started as a back-and-forth battle between the two programs, but it was Cal who dominated. Head coach Luka Slabe used an early timeout after the Golden Bears increased the lead to four (9-5).

The Wolfpack managed to minimize the deficit to one (14-13) but were unable to find a weak spot in the Cal defense to take a lead.
Cal took set one, 25-19, despite the Wolfpack attempting to rally late in the set.

Sophie Groom, Ava Brizard, and Amanda Rice combined for nine kills in the first set.
After a slow start in set two, the Pack managed to tie things eight-all. The Golden Bears continued to maintain the lead, despite the Wolfpack tying the frame on several occasions.

At the media timeout, Cal led 15-12 but NC State went on a 3-1 scoring run to minimize the Golden Bears lead to one (16-15). Coming out of the timeout, Cal scored a pair of points to increase the lead back to three and forced Slabe to use his first timeout of the set. The Pack tried to keep things close and exchanged points with the Golden Bears, but Cal came out on top, 25-21.
The Wolfpack started set three with all the momentum and took a 5-3 lead over the Golden Bears. Cal took its first lead of the third set after a 3-0 scoring run (9-7). Slabe used an early timeout in hopes of slowing Cal and helping the Pack regroup.
Cal continued its scoring run out of the timeout and capitalized on errors by the Wolfpack. The Golden Bears took the third set, 25-14 and the match, 3-0.

Stat Leaders
Kills: Amanda Rice (11)
Digs: Skye Stokes (12)
Assists: Naomi Cabello (19)
Blocks: Jada Allen (5)
Aces: Amanda Rice (2)

Up Next
The Pack will return to the east coast for rivalry week. NC State will host UNC on Friday, Oct. 11 before hosting Duke on Sunday, Oct. 13.

https://gopack.com/news/2024/10/6/womens-volleyball-wolfpack-falls-to-cal-in-straight-sets6

Busy weekend ahead 🗓️ pic.twitter.com/N9vC3fpjLo

— Wolfpack Volleyball (@PackVball) October 9, 2024

Busy weekend ahead 🗓️ pic.twitter.com/N9vC3fpjLo

— Wolfpack Volleyball (@PackVball) October 9, 2024

Huge win over unc tonight!

It was ALWAYS the Pack😜 pic.twitter.com/aafZlVqSXV

— Wolfpack Volleyball (@PackVball) October 12, 2024

I was there. A MASSIVE crowd at this match…program record.

That’s a single match program record🥳#WPN we love y’all♥️ pic.twitter.com/H7HBGlhFSH

— Wolfpack Volleyball (@PackVball) October 12, 2024

Match point…

Great day to the Wolfpack🐺 pic.twitter.com/J08xxYCqOn

— Wolfpack Volleyball (@PackVball) October 12, 2024

Another view of match point

Goodnight 😴 pic.twitter.com/41lCKcrhTm

— Wolfpack Volleyball (@PackVball) October 12, 2024

It's a really big deal for the Wolfpack to beat unc in volleyball because of the dismal series history against them - only winning 5 of the 44 meetings prior to today going back to 1999. But things are changing, now with a 2 game win streak versus them and 4-7 in the last 11 meetings.

Another huge rivalry match in two days, Sunday at 1:00pm at home in Reynolds versus Duke. We're 4-6 in the last 10 matchups against Duke. We have a really good chance of beating them, as Duke is a little down this year, 7-9 overall so far this season, and they just lost 2 matches to unc a week ago, getting swept 0-3 sets in both matches.

The NC State volleyball team handed UNC its second loss of the season Friday evening when the Wolfpack defeated the Tar Heels, 3-1, in front of a record attendance (3,431) at Reynolds Coliseum.

The Wolfpack moves to 8-5 on the season and 3-2 in conference play.

Breaking Down the Match

• The Wolfpack started the first set off with the lead, but UNC tied the frame seven-all and took over. After a 6-0 scoring run by the Tar Heels, NC State head coach Luka Slabe called a timeout.
• The Pack rallied back to minimize the deficit to two (21-23), but UNC took the first set 25-23.
• The second set started as a back-and-forth battle between the two programs, but it was NC State that eventually jumped out to a three-point lead (12-9). At the media timeout, the Pack led 15-11 and would later increase the lead to six (17-11) to force a UNC timeout.
• Despite the Tar Heels attempting to minimize the deficit, the Wolfpack took the second set 25-18. Senior opposite Amanda Rice led the Pack with 11 kills through set two.
• The Wolfpack maintained the momentum from set two into the third frame. The two teams tied the frame on four separate occasions, but it was NC State who dominated and took the set 25-22.
• UNC took the early lead in the final frame, but the Wolfpack battled back to tie the set 11-all. After NC State took the lead, 12-11, UNC called a timeout. A service error by Skye Stokes ended the 6-0 scoring run by the Wolfpack and allowed UNC to start minimizing the lead.
• The two programs exchanged points, and UNC eventually took a 22-21 lead. A kill by Alexis Engelbrecht was the last point the Tar Heels scored before NC State went on a 5-0 scoring run to eventually end the set on top, 25-22.
• The Tar Heels recorded a season high 18 service errors on the evening and the win for the Wolfpack snapped an eight-game winning-streak for UNC.
• Rice led the Pack with a season high 19 kills on 31 attempts with four errors to finish the evening hitting .484.
• The win marked the eighth of the season, third in ACC play, 201st ACC win in program history, 808th win in program history, and 70th win under the leadship of Slabe.

Stat Leaders
Kills: Amanda Rice (19)
Digs: Skye Stokes (16)
Assists: Naomi Cabello (28)
Blocks: Sophie Groom, Amanda Rice (5)
Aces: Skye Stokes (2)

Up Next
The Pack will host Duke on Sunday, Oct. 13 for the final home match of the month. First serve is set for 1pm on ACCNX.

https://gopack.com/news/2024/10/11/womens-volleyball-wolfpack-tops-tar-heels-in-front-of-record-crowd

Reynolds was ROCKIN' after this rally💥 pic.twitter.com/8sXHUrQdmY

— Wolfpack Volleyball (@PackVball) October 11, 2024

Talk about a read 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/cvUC8haWq9

— Wolfpack Volleyball (@PackVball) October 11, 2024

POP OFF BIG RED 😜 pic.twitter.com/QdFHFUgvoC

— Wolfpack Volleyball (@PackVball) October 11, 2024

Coach was more hyped than anyone for this point 😎 pic.twitter.com/H03JexTCcq

— Wolfpack Volleyball (@PackVball) October 11, 2024

That’s a single match program record🥳#WPN we love y’all♥️ pic.twitter.com/H7HBGlhFSH

— Wolfpack Volleyball (@PackVball) October 12, 2024

Great day to be the Wolfpack🐺 pic.twitter.com/u5hfqOv5HB

— Wolfpack Volleyball (@PackVball) October 12, 2024

Goodnight 😴 pic.twitter.com/41lCKcrhTm

— Wolfpack Volleyball (@PackVball) October 12, 2024

Recap
Rice leads NC State volleyball to dominant 3-1 win over rival UNC-Chapel Hill

"I want the ball and I want to kill it, and I want to show them who's the boss,'" Rice said. "Obviously there's a lot of bad blood against UNC. We played them last year and we played them also in the spring. I've done well both times that we played them, so I'm like, 'Why not have the confidence that I'm gonna do it again?' Obviously, I don't know if they had the greatest game plan against me or something, but it was so easy thanks to my setters and the rest of my teammates."

"The way she was today, that's what we had from her all last season and she carried us," said head coach Luka Slabe. "Without Amanda today, that would be a tough one. But let's not forget, for Amanda to get all her kills, somebody has to pass the serve and somebody has to set the ball."

Slabe was right. Rice wasn't alone junior outside hitters Ava Brizard and Courtney Bryant finished with 15 and 12 kills, respectively. The trio combined for 46 total kills, more than Carolina recorded for the game

"It's easy to play in front of a crowd like that," Slabe said. "When we played them the first time I was head coach, this place was empty. Look at it now."

"[A win] was necessary," Slabe said. "We had a lousy trip to California, but it was necessary for us to do this, no matter the opponent. It's even harder to do against UNC and we responded well."

NC State looks to continue its home win streak, facing off against another Tobacco Road rival in Duke on Sunday in its annual Pink Match in honor of breast cancer awareness. The match is set to begin at 1 p.m.

https://www.technicianonline.com/sports/rice-leads-nc-state-volleyball-to-dominant-3-1-win-over-rival-unc-chapel-hill/article_c944163c-8853-11ef-875a-e3a34828a461.html

The Technician article described it as a "dominant" win, but it really was not. Unc is a pretty good team, and it was a close match. Both teams played well. Unc controlled the first set and NC State controlled the second. In the 3rd set, we jumped out to a 12-4 lead, but unc fought back to tie it 20-20, and we barely won it 25-22. The fourth set could have gone either way, as unc led late 22-20. The match could have easily gone 5 sets.

No surprise, but it seems we play a lot better at home, feeding off our crowd. That road loss to Cal was bad, as Cal is currently 1-4 in ACC play with losses to Wake, ND, and BC. But it's a 20 game conference season, so we still have ample opportunity to make this a good season.

Hope we have another big crowd for the home match against Duke tomorrow. Need that win.

Also, have to talk about how great the crowd was at this match. The official listed (program record) attendance of 3,431 is 100% legitimate. I was there, and the lower level sections all the way around the court and upper deck sideline areas were about 70% packed, and only the southern end upper deck was somewhat sparsely filled. The band was in the southern end lower level seats. It was an electric atmosphere…several "Wolf"…"Pack" chants throughout the match, crowd did the wave at least twice. Crowd was engaged and loud the entire match, erupting in roars at big points.

I went to our volleyball matches at Carmichael at unc and at Cameron at Duke last year, and the atmosphere in Reynolds blows both of theirs away, with theirs being very stale by comparison to ours. The renovated Reynolds is an outstanding venue for all of our sports that compete there- womens basketball, volleyball, wrestling, and gymnastics.

This video shows how the crowd was rockin

Rivalry wins just hit different 👏 pic.twitter.com/Jj0v9k1Iaz

— Wolfpack Volleyball (@PackVball) October 12, 2024

Rivalry wins just hit different 👏 pic.twitter.com/Jj0v9k1Iaz

— Wolfpack Volleyball (@PackVball) October 12, 2024

Playing for some really special people💕

Join us in Reynolds Coliseum at 1pm for our annual Pink match! pic.twitter.com/E8Ib52KPn1

— Wolfpack Volleyball (@PackVball) October 12, 2024

Playing for some really special people 🩷

🆚 Duke
📍 Reynolds Coliseum
⏰ 1pm ET
🖥️ ACCNX
📊 https://t.co/fR0DQKiNrP
🎉 Pink Match pic.twitter.com/355yeXggQI

— Wolfpack Volleyball (@PackVball) October 13, 2024

NC State wins 1st set
25-15

NC State wins set 2
25-15

NC State leads match 2-0

@packswimdive showed up and showed out for the @packvball's breast cancer awareness game 🐺 pic.twitter.com/wYCmS5usXB

— NC State Athletics (@PackAthletics) October 13, 2024

NC State wins 3rd set 25-13

NC State wins match 3-0

That was a dominant performance. Duke was never really close except once or twice very early in a few of the sets. It was obvious we were by far the superior team.

Junior middle blocker Sophie Groom paced the NC State volleyball team with 10 kills while hitting a perfect 1.00 in the 3-0 win over Duke Sunday afternoon at Reynolds Coliseum.

The Pack moves to 9-5 overall and 4-2 in conference play.

Up Next
The Pack will hit the road for four games, starting with a match at Notre Dame on Friday, Oct. 18. First serve is set for 7:30pm on ACCNX.

https://gopack.com/news/2024/10/13/womens-volleyball-groom-paces-pack-in-win-over-blue-devils

Recap
NC State volleyball too much to handle in 3-0 sweep of Duke

The Pink Match is especially meaningful to two Wolfpack players graduate setter Naomi Cabello and freshman outside hitter Reis Baune whose moms both have battled breast cancer and were in attendance cheering them on.

NC State looks to continue its ACC win streak, traveling to South Bend, Indiana on Oct. 18, to take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The match is slated to start at 7:30 p.m.

https://www.technicianonline.com/sports/nc-state-volleyball-too-much-to-handle-in-3-0-sweep-of-duke/article_e1f9b9ae-89d2-11ef-a1da-f74a158a2e78.html

Really good home crowd for the Duke match as well....officially 2,295. By comparison, that's significantly better than Duke had in their home "super bowl" match in Cameron against arch-rival UNC (1,709) just a couple weeks ago.

The series history against Duke in volleyball is looking a lot better of late. We've now won 3 of the last 5, and 6 of the last 12 (going back to 2016). Prior to the last 12 meetings, the series history was extremely lopsided in favor of Duke (2-24) going back to 2001.

Previously in the thread, I noted the huge turnaround in the series history against Virginia and Virginia Tech that started around 2016, with us currently having a 13 match winning streak against Virginia and a 12 match winning streak against VT. I didn't really start following the volleyball team until 2022, so I don't know what changed in 2015 or 2016...but I find it interesting that the Reynolds Coliseum renovation was completed in the fall of 2016. Women's basketball and wrestling have also dramatically improved since around that same time. I think the renovation to Reynolds has had a HUGE impact on these programs -- positively affecting recruiting, fan attendance at home, etc...which all helps the programs become more successful.

The NC State volleyball team is set to hit the road for its second conference road trip of the month. The Pack will face Notre Dame in South Bend on Friday, Oct. 18 at 6:30pm before heading to Kentucky to take on the fourth-ranked Cardinals on Sunday, Oct. 20 at 1pm. Both matches will be streamed on ACCNX.

What a Jump
The Wolfpack checked in at 33 in this week's RPI rankings, jumping 27 spots from last week.
The ranking is the highest in program history to date. Last year, the Pack checked in at 43 in the first RPI ranking of the 2023 season, which was the lowest ranking to date at the time in program history.

https://gopack.com/news/2024/10/15/womens-volleyball-wolfpack-to-hit-the-road-set-to-face-notre-dame-and-no-4-lousiville

Time to battle with the Irish

🆚 Notre Dame
📍 South Bend, Ind.
⏰ 6:30pm ET
🖥️ ACCNX
📊 https://t.co/SQlIE28cpI pic.twitter.com/fj0h8ItNfh

— Wolfpack Volleyball (@PackVball) October 18, 2024