Pitt Hands NC State First Home Loss of Season in 3-0 Fashion

RALEIGH, NC –The No. 7 University of Pittsburgh volleyball team (18-3, 9-1 ACC) dominated NC State (15-5, 5-4 ACC) 3-0 on Friday night at Reynolds Coliseum, giving the Wolfpack their first home loss of the season. Pitt totaled 14 blocks in the match and held NC State to a -.038 hitting percentage.

Pitt and NC State battled back and forth at the beginning of set two, but it did not take the Panthers long to get in a rhythm, going up 11-8 causing NC State to take their first timeout. Three straight points behind the serve of Valeria Vazquez Gomez forced the Wolfpack to take their final timeout, down 9-15. Emma Monks, Olivia Babcock and Chiamaka Nwokolo led the charge for the remainder of the set, combining for six kills to help capture the first set win, 25-15.

NC State quickly turned it around at the beginning of the second, going up 6-2. Senior Cat Flood came in to serve and brought the Panthers within one, only down 6-7. A pair of kills from Stafford and NC State errors led to a 5-2 run, and the Wolfpack quickly called a timeout, down 9-12. The Pitt block slowed down NC State, forcing them to take their final timeout with Pitt up 16-11. NC State attempted to come back, but six blocks from the Panthers put the stamp on the set, 25-16. 

Pitt maintained its dominance from the first two sets, getting out to an early 7-4 lead as NC State took their first timeout. Once again, Stafford and Vazquez Gomez impressed from the service line, going on five and six-point runs, respectively. NC State…