No. 24 Volleyball Downs NC State In Four

Friday, September 25

Raleigh, N.C.

7:00 PM

North Carolina

6-3,1-0ACC

NC State

9-3,0-1ACC

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
North Carolina	28	25	23	25	3
NC State	26	20	25	16	1

Match Notes

Safi Hampton
University of North Carolina Volleyball v NC State
Reynolds Coliseum
Raleigh, NC
Friday, September 25, 2026

Photo by: DALTON WAINSCOTT

September 25, 2026 | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

RALEIGH, N.C. – No. 24 Carolina Volleyball took down NC State (28-26, 25-20, 23-25, 25-16) in front of a sellout crowd in Raleigh on Friday night to start ACC play 1-0.

Safi Hampton had her most complete match of the season, racking up a match-high tying 16 kills to go along with 13 digs for the first double-double of her senior campaign. She hit .368 which is her highest hitting percentage when having 15+ attacks.

The team had a block party, stuffing the Wolfpack 15 times, setting a new season high. Jackie Taylor had a season best 10 blocks. Laynie Smith wasn't too far behind with eight to go with 10 kills.

The Tar Heels were pushed right away in the first set, going down 3-0. They eventually tied it at 5-5 and were able to snag the lead at 9-8. The Wolfpack were able to knot things up at 11-11, but it was immediately followed by a 4-0 Carolina run. The run was powered by a kill from Bridget Malone, an ace from Julia Bohlinger, a block by Malone and Taylor, and a Smith kill. NC State wouldn't go away however, tying things back up at 22-22. The Wolfpack staved off two UNC set points to tie things back up at 24-24. The Tar Heels then fought off an NC State set point to make it 25-25. NC State survived to make it 26-26 before a Malone kill and Chelsea Thorpe kill gave the set to UNC 28-26.

Set two started with a similar call and response. It was 2-0, then 2-2, then Carolina went up 5-2, then NC State tied things at 5-5. That's when Carolina used a 10-3 run to grab a 15-8 lead going into the media timeout. Once UNC went up 24-17, NC State fought off three set points before Lauren Schutter and Bridget Malone shut the set down with a loud block to take it 25-20.

NC State won another back and forth set three to stay alive in the match and force a fourth set. The Tar Heels raced out the gate to a 6-1 lead in the fourth, forcing a Wolfpack timeout. By the media break, UNC maintained a 15-11 lead. After the break, they scored the next three points, making it 18-11 and forced NC State to call its final timeout. After two NC State points out of the timeout, UNC rattled off the next five to take a commanding 23-13 lead. The birthday girl, Bridget Malone closed things out with a kill to take the set 25-16 and the match 3-1. She finished the night with 10 kills and a career-high tying four blocks.

UNC is now 1-0 in ACC play for the third consecutive season and turns its attention to Wake Forest on Sunday at 4 p.m. in Winston-Salem on ACCN.