Sports > November 17, 2005

By Jimmy McQuilkin

Old Gold & Black Reporter

Before falling to the Blue Devils 3-0 Nov. 15, the Demon Deacon volleyball squad extended their home win streak to seven matches with their 3-0 victory over Boston College Nov. 11 and their 3-2 defeat of No. 24 Maryland Nov. 12.

Nov. 11 the Deacs started strong in their match against Boston College, jumping out to an 11-3 lead in the first game. The team rode the momentum of their early run and captured the opening game by a score of 30-18. Wake Forest took the second game 30-27, again taking advantage of an early lead.

Despite falling behind 5-0 in the third game, the Deacons fought their way to a 30-28 win, claiming victory in the match.

“We played with a lot of intensity, and our team always does well when we play with a lot of excitement,” Borhart said.

Redshirt freshman outside hitter Jessica Furlong earned her third straight double-double with 20 kills and 11 digs and had a match high .474 attack percentage.

Senior middle blocker Christy Williams had four block assists, three solo blocks and seven kills. Borhart added 12 digs and 38 assists. As a team, Wake Forest earned 57 kills and hit .255 to Boston College’s .172. Four players hit double figures Nov. 12 as the Deacons earned their first victory over a ranked opponent this season, defeating No. 24 Maryland 3-2.

In the opening game, Wake Forest took an early 11-4 lead and won the game handily, 30-22. The Terps responded in the second, riding a 10-2 run to a 30-23 win.

Maryland also took the third game 32-30. The match-up proved intense, as it included 15 ties, 6 lead changes and a pair of yellow cards to each team.

The Deacons captured the fourth game 30-25 on the strength of a 12-1 run. Finally, Wake Forest claimed the fifth and decisive game 15-11 after going on a 5-1 run after the score deadlocked at 10.

Coach Heather Kahl explained the keys to her team’s victory. “We served aggressively and got them out of position. We really hustled on defense; our second chance points were key,” Kahl said.

In the match, Williams knocked down 21 kills and had a team-high hitting percentage of 36 attacks, 21 kills and one error. She also added four block assists and one solo block.

Furlong earned her fourth straight double-double and seventh of the season with 19 kills and 11 digs. Junior outside hitter Lauren Peterson and redshirt freshman middle blocker Natalie Mullikin also had double-digit kills with 16 each.

As a whole, Wake Forest out-hit Maryland .248 to .230 and had 83 kills to the Terps’ 73. However, Maryland had a slight advantage at the net as the Terps had 14 team blocks, while the Deacs managed 10.

On Tuesday night, the Deacons lost a hard-fought match to the Duke Blue Devils. Wake Forest started the match strong, cruising to a 30-13 win in game one. In the second game, Duke fought off an early Deacon run and took the game 30-24. The Blue Devils continued to take control of the match in the third game, winning the game 30-23. Duke also took the fourth set 30-25 to claim the match.

“We came out great, but we got hesitant after the first game and stopped attacking,” Kahl said.

In the loss, Wake Forest had four players hit in double digits, including Furlong with 16 kills. Borhart also earned a double-double with 45 assists and 17 digs.

At the net, freshman middle blocker Natalie Mullikin recorded four block assists and one solo stuff, while fellow freshman middle blocker Shannan Homan had three.

Borhart earned ACC Volleyball Player of the Week honors after leading the Deacons to a pair of conference victories Boston College and Maryland. She had 12 digs and 38 assists against the Eagles and 22 digs and 61 assists against the Terps. For the week, Borhart averaged 12.38 assists per game and 4.25 digs per game.

“She made good choices all weekend, saw her blockers well, and gave the right people the ball at the right time,” Williams said.

Despite the loss to Duke, the Demon Deacons have still won eight of their last 10 matches and have an 11-2 home record this season. They improved their overall record to 16-11 and 9-9 in ACC play.

The team will return to action Nov. 18 at home against the Virginia Cavaliers.

“This is the best we’ve been playing all year,” Borhart said. “We couldn’t ask to be playing any better at this time of year with the season winding down.”