Syracuse falls in straight sets to NC State, loses 14th straight ACC match

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Near the end of the second set against NC State, Zharia Harris-Waddy served with Syracuse trailing 23-20. The freshman, who leads the team in service aces on the year, missed long and gave the Wolfpack a game point. After handing possession back to NC State, Jada Allen rose up and scored the set-ending kill.

NC State (18-7, 8-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) continued to outplay Syracuse (2-22, 0-14 ACC) in the third set, defeating the Orange 3-0. Early in the first set, though, the Wolfpack struggled to find their footing. After scoring the first point off a kill from sophomore Ava Brizard, they surrendered two points via attack errors. NC State ultimately ended the contest with 15 errors while attacking, with the majority of them coming in the first set. But SU failed to overcome a sloppy performance from its opponent despite a season-high nine kills from Laila Smith.

The Orange and Wolfpack traded scores in the first set. Smith’s scoring in addition to unforced errors by NC State led to SU having a 9-8 lead early on. But the Wolfpack responded with a 9-0 run to hold a 17-9 advantage. That stretch was spurred by Brizard and Amanda Rice, who each scored twice during that run. Brizard ended the contest with a game-high 13 kills, while Rice had 10.

Syracuse eventually put an end to the extended run with a kill by Veronica Sierzant. Sierzant ended the match with only three kills, but led the team in assists with 11. On the ensuing possession, a Rice kill added to NC State’s lead. Smith scored on the following play with a kill of her own, trying to keep SU afloat after NC State’s onslaught.

But the Wolfpack were too much for the Orange. They went on a 3-0 run to bring the score to 21-11. Although Syracuse tried to come back, it was simply too big of a deficit to overcome. NC State won the first set 25-15.

The second set was the closest of the three. To start, NC State’s Kristen McDaniel aced, one of its six throughout the contest. On the following play, a McDaniel service error gave possession to the Orange. The two squads traded kills before Syracuse went on a 3-0 run.

NC State stopped the run with a kill by Rice and the two teams once again proceeded to go back-and-forth with scoring. Afterward, the Wolfpack went on their own 3-0 run, which was powered by errors from Mira Ledermueller and Lauren McCabe. Then, Syracuse scored to even the score at 8-8.

Throughout the season, Syracuse tends to lose steam around the 10-point mark of periods. In the same fashion as the first set, NC State took advantage and scored the next seven out of eight points, making its lead 15-9. Unlike the first set, though, Syracuse responded with a 4-0 run.

The Wolfpack scored three out of the next four points, which the Orange responded with by scoring three of their own. Still, NC State led 19-17 and Brizard extended the lead with a kill. The Wolfpack then gave up two scores, one on a service error by Skye Stokes and another from a block by Harris-Waddy and Sierzant.

The Orange trailed 20-19 at that point but couldn’t close out the set with a victory. NC State took control late, winning the period 25-20. The third and final set saw the Wolfpack dominate for stretches early on. They went on three separate runs of 3-0 or more including a 5-0 run in the period. Leading by as much as 11, NC State was too much to handle for Syracuse.