South Raleigh News

The NC State volleyball team faced off against the 10th-ranked SMU Mustangs on Friday evening at Reynolds Coliseum. Despite a strong effort, the Wolfpack fell in five sets, bringing their overall record to 14-11 and their conference play record to 9-8.

Senior middle blocker Jada Allen achieved a significant milestone during the match, recording her 400th career block. She became only the third player in the rally scoring era to reach this mark. Another senior, Amanda Rice, also reached a personal milestone by securing her 1,000th career kill with her 13th of the evening. Rice is now the sixth player in the rally scoring era to achieve this and the first under head coach Luka Slabe.

The match began with NC State taking an early lead over SMU with a 4-1 scoring run. The Wolfpack maintained their momentum throughout the first set, eventually winning it 25-16. Courtney Bryant contributed significantly with five kills.

In set two, NC State started strong again but SMU found their rhythm towards the end of the set. After tying at 20-all, SMU went on a brief scoring run to win the second set 28-26.

SMU carried their momentum into set three and won it decisively with a score of 25-15. In response, NC State regained control in set four after initially struggling but managed to secure a victory at 25-19.

In the decisive fifth set, SMU took an early lead which they maintained until winning it 15-9 despite NC State's efforts to close the gap.

Amanda Rice led NC State statistically with 15 kills and seven blocks while Skye Stokes recorded 16 digs and Naomi Cabello provided 29 assists for her teammates. Jada Allen added three aces to her contributions on court.

NC State is scheduled next to host top-ranked Pitt on Sunday at Reynolds Coliseum. The game will be available for streaming on ACCNX starting at 1 pm.