The volleyball team split its home series against opponents from Virginia this weekend, losing 3-2 to Virginia Tech on Friday before picking up a home win against Virginia Saturday evening 3-1. Saturday’s win in Reynolds lifted State to 9-12 overall and 3-3 in ACC play.Friday night the Wolfpack took the opening set before losing two in a row.  Down 2-1, State forced a fifth game in comeback fashion, coming back from as many as five down to take the set 25-27. The Hokies took five of the first seven points in the tiebreaker and took the game 15-11 to end the match.Saturday night’s match began much like the previous night with State winning the first game of the match 25-18 thanks to a .343 hitting percentage. The Pack connected for 16 kills on 35 attempts and committed only four hitting errors in the first stanza but committed five service errors.The Wahoos capitalized on another five service errors in the second set and took the game 25-23, as the Wolfpack struggled to drop the ball in the box. Junior Arlee Tamietti said the service errors were the result of the team being anxious to grab the win.”We weren’t relaxing,” Tamietti said. “We were really antsy and wanted the win so when we got there we were in a rush to get it done.”State’s serving improved in the third set as Margaret Salata and Lindsay Benac both notched service aces for the Pack against just two service errors. Four kills from freshman Isis Gardner helped the Pack battle UVA to a 25-22 result and State took the lead 2-1.”I didn’t belittle them, I didn’t yell at them,” head coach Charita Stubbs said of her locker room talk in between set two and three. “We talked about the scouting report and the adjustments we needed to make.”State and Virginia traded advantages throughout the fourth match before Salata connected on a powerful kill to earn the 25-22 win, ending the match. When the ball crashed into the hardwood, the freshman was encircled by her teammates as a deafening roar from the crowd drowned out the team’s celebration.”It’s very satisfying,” Salata said of her final kill. “There’s nothing [the other team] can do about it. The adrenaline is crazy.”State’s three ACC wins are the most since 1999 when the team went 5-11 in conference and this season’s twelve game wins in conference matches has already eclipsed last season’s grand total of seven. Lone senior Aiwane Iboaya, who contributed nine kills in the contest, said the Pack’s recent success has helped the team to focus on winning as a reality.”We’ve always progressed but we’ve never had that win, that validation,” Iboaya said. “It doesn’t matter how you progress, the win is what counts. We’re finally getting that golden prize.”