Sports > October 6, 2005

By Ryan Durham

Assistant Sports Editor

The volleyball team won their first ACC match of the season Oct. 1 over N.C. State after losing a heartbreaker to UNC-Chapel Hill the night before. They also suffered a hard defeat to Duke Oct. 4

The Deacs started off their weekend Sept. 30 against UNC, marking their first home ACC game of the season. Wake Forest took the match to five games, but in the end was unable to pull out the win.

Game one set the tone for what was to be a long battle. The score was tied 15 times and the lead exchanged five. The Deacs trailed by five, but were able to tie the game, extending it past the usual 30 points. The team was unable to pull out a win, dropping the game 34-36.

The Deacs came out much stronger in game two. Wake Forest quickly jumped out to a 16-7 lead and never looked back. They won the match by 14 points, 30-16.

Game three started out close, but a five-point Tar Heel run gave them a lead the Deacs were not able to overcome. Wake Forest dropped the game 26-30.

Game four, much like game one, was another epic match. The lead changed six times and the score was tied 17 times. The Deacs were able to pull the game out, winning 32-30.

Unfortunately, Wake Forest did not look their best in game five. UNC came out quickly and took a 9-2 lead over the Deacs. The early lead proved insurmountable, as the Deacs dropped the game and match with a score of 9-15 and 2-3.

Redshirt freshman outside hitter Jessica Furlong earned a double-double with her 22 kills and 17 digs on the night. Senior middle blocker Christy Williams had 11 kills and five digs. Junior outside hitter Lauren Peterson finished up the Deacon’s attack with her own double-double on the night, with 18 kills and 10 digs.

“I think the loss was physically draining, but we really played well against them,” said Furlong. “We proved to ourselves we can hang with any team in the ACC if we really focus and put our mind to it.”

Wake Forest’s match against N.C. State was a completely different story. The Deacs trounced the Wolfpack in all three games of the match.The first few points of game were close. Then, junior defensive specialist Natasha Schaefer came to the line and served eight consecutive points, putting Wake Forest up 14-6. This was more than enough for the Deacs to seal a win, with the final score at 30-20.

N.C. State fared no better in game two. The Deacons jumped out to an early five point lead, 10-5, and kept going. The Wolfpack rallied within two points after this but were never able to overtake Wake Forest, who won the match 30-22.

The Deacs put N.C. State out of their misery in the third and final game. They came out strong, moving quickly to a 13-2 lead. Wake Forest never wavered in their dominance over the Wolfpack, finishing them off with a 30-19 win in the game and a 3-0 win in the match.

The team had 61 kills in the match, and outplayed N.C. State defensively with 59 digs to their 44.

Peterson led the team with 14 kills on the night and Williams added another 10 on top of that. Schaefer also lead the team with 14 of their 59 digs. Senior setter Erin Borhart also had an outstanding performance earning a double-double with 37 assists and 10 digs, as well as having 8 kills on the night.

Oct. 4 Wake traveled to Durham to face Duke University.

“They’re a tough team, ranked preseason number one, but I think we can compete with them,” Head Coach Heather Kahl said before the game.

Duke lived up to their preseason ranking starting off the first match of the game with a 2-0 and 4-0 run, which helped put them up 10-4. The Deacs managed to tie the score three times and take the lead once, but they were unable to hold on. Two more 4-0 runs gave the Blue Devils a solid lead, and they closed out the match 23-30.

Duke jumped out quickly again in game two, quickly going ahead 10-6, but a five point streak put them up 15-7. Outside of the first few points the Deacs could never get closer than three points away and dropped the game 17-30.

Game three of the match proved much the same for Wake Forest. Duke went up 9-3 and never looked back. The Deacs lost the game and the match 18-30 and 0-3.

“The match was no reflection of the potential of our team,” said Williams. “We struggled putting our game plan into action and we suffered the consequences.”

The Deacs had problems pulling together their offense and only recorded 33 kills. Peterson and redshirt freshman middle blocker Natalie Mullikin led the team in kills with eight apiece and Schaefer led on the defensive end with 13 digs.

The Deacs return to action on Oct. 7 at Virginia Tech. They are currently 8-6 overall and 1-4 in the ACC.