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RALEIGH, N.C. – The Virginia volleyball team defeated NC State, 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-21), Sunday afternoon at Reynolds Gymnasium to complete a season sweep of the Wolfpack. The Cavaliers defeated NC State earlier this season, 3-0, in Memorial Gymnasium.

Virginia was led by freshman Rachel Gray who distributed 35 assists while knocking down five of six attempts, while committing no errors, for a personal-best .833 attack percentage. Gray was helped by sophomore Simone Asque, who tallied a match-high 11 kills, and junior Kendahl Voelker, who registered 10 kills.

Senior Brittani Rendina and junior AJ Cushman led the defensive efforts, collecting 15 and 12 digs, respectively. Junior Sydney Hill had a match-high four blocks to go with eight kills.

For NC State (7-23, 0-15 ACC), Keri DeMar and Lisa Kretchman shared the offensive load, each knocking down eight kills. Alex Smith dished out 29 assists, while Lindsay Benac collected a match-high 19 digs.

The opening of the first set was close, before sophomore Tess Udall landed a kill to spark a 7-1 run for the Cavaliers, putting them ahead 15-10. NC State called a timeout in that run, but was unable to get anything going until a 3-0 run pulled the Pack within two, at 19-17. Virginia held on though, and used back-to-back kills from Asque and Voelker to close out the frame with a 25-20 victory.

A 6-1 run in favor of Virginia midway through the second set put the Cavaliers up three, at 12-9. From there, the Wolfpack attempted to chip into Virginia’s lead, but they could only come as close as one, as Virginia ran away with another 25-20 win.

Virginia fell behind in the third set, but was able to overcome a three-point deficit, at 11-8. Following a timeout, NC State committed a service error before a ball handling error was called on the Cavaliers. A second-straight error on Virginia pushed the Wolfpack ahead four, but back-to-back kills from Asque turned things around for the Cavaliers, as Virginia strung together seven-consecutive points to take a 16-13 lead. NC State was able to knot the score again at 17 and 18, but Virginia outscored the home team, 6-3, in the final points to win the third set, 25-21.

Virginia (11-15, 6-9 ACC) will return home this weekend for its final home matches. The Cavaliers will host Wake Forest Friday (7 p.m.), before facing Duke for Senior Day on Saturday (7 p.m.).

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