Sports > September 29, 2004

By Ryan Durham

Old Gold & Black Reporter

The Deacon volleyball team lost its first two ACC matches to Virginia and Maryland Sept. 24 and 25, respectively, dropping their record to 8-4 overall.

Sept. 24, the Deacs went down early in the first game when Virginia went on an eight-point run, taking a commanding 18-5 lead.

Wake Forest rallied back, though, led by junior Erin Borhart’s five assists and two kills, to cut the lead 23-15. Junior Valerie Rydberg served for five straight points in an attempt to extend the Deacs’ rally, but it was not enough to hold off the Cavaliers, who took the first game by a score of 30-26.

Wake Forest jumped out to an early lead in game two with senior Kim Stern getting two quick kills. The game was tied eight times until Wake Forest began to pull away with a 19-16 cushion. Tehn, Virginia came to the line and served four straight points to tie the game back up. The team fought all the way to the end of the game but were eventually thwarted by an attack error that cost them the game as they fell 30-29.

In game three, Wake Forest kept it close early but were unable to hold off a tough Virginia attack, which led to a 7-3 run for the Cavaliers. A rally by the Deacs brought them within one point at 21-20, but they were unable to capture the lead from the Cavaliers. Virginia ended up with a 30-26 win, clinching the match.

Junior Christy Williams had a match-high six block assists and Stern had 15 kills in the match. Sophomore Natasha Schaefer posted her fifth consecutive game with double-digit digs. As a team, Wake Forest was out-hit .235 to .240 by Virginia.

Sept. 25 the Deacs played host to the Maryland Terrapins in Reynolds Gymnasium, losing a hard-faught four-game match.

They took an early lead in game one of the match, but then went even with the Terps until Maryland posted six unanswered points. The Deacs rallied back to a score of 25-22, but four unanswered points by Maryland eventually were the difference as the Terps won 30-24.

Wake Forest came out strong in game two of the match, going ahead with a 15-10 lead after a 10-5 run against the Terps. Maryland came back to tie the game at 26 before putting the team away 30-27.

Scoring the first three points, the Deacs took control of game three from the start. The team went up 6-4 early in the game but Maryland rebounded to take its only lead of the game, 11-9.

With a block by Williams, the Deacs went on a six-point run to put them ahead 19-14. The Terps eventually brought the game to within three but were unable to fend off the Wake Forest attack as the Deacs won 30-28.

Maryland came out hard in game four, taking the lead right away. The Deacs came back and stayed close until Maryland went on an 11-2 run. Wake Forest scored four unanswered points to bring the game within three points but Maryland would not let them have any more, eventually winning the game 30-23.

In the match, Rydberg had 16 kills and seven digs, Stern had nine kills and five digs and Borhart had 49 assists and six kills, giving her 89 assists on the weekend. Schaefer had her sixth straight game with double-digit digs.

“Obviously we weren’t pleased with the outcome this weekend but it’s still early in the season and I am confident the girls can rebound,” Head Coach Valorie Baker said.

The Deacs travel to Florida next, facing Miami Oct. 1 and Florida State Oct. 2.

“We know what to work on now, and are confident going into our matches in Florida,” Rydberg said.