Sports > October 9, 2008

By Tori Stewart | Staff writer

The Lady Deacons volleyball team picked up two ACC wins last week at home. The first came when they defeated N.C. State Oct. 3 19-25, 25-15, 27-25, 25-20. The Deacons, in front of their largest crowd of the year, swept UNC-Chapel Hill Oct. 4 with wins of 25-13, 28-26, 25-15.

As the match began against N.C. State, Wake struggled. Down 7-1, the Deacs slowly fought their way back into the game and back-to-back kills led to a13-13 tie. Wake called a timeout in an attempt to regain control of the match, but the Wolfpack continued to fight, taking the set from Wake 25-19.

Fighting back in the second match, Wake jumped to an 8-4 lead. A 4-0 run and two 3-0 runs later in the match kept Wake in the lead the rest of the game. Graduate student Natalie Mullikin contributed five kills in the second set, and freshman Kadija Fornah, senior Ashley Homitz and sophomore Kristen White each recorded three kills.

Recording 15 of their 57 kills in the third set, the Deacs fought their way through, scraping out a victory 27-25. With the Wolfpack leading 11-9, two kills by Mullikin and a kill by sophomore Kelsey Jones tied the score at 12-12. A kill by Mullikin led to a tied game at 24-24, and kills by Homitz, Fornah and White led to the third set victory for Wake.

Struggling to keep up with a fired up Wolfpack initially, Wake managed to pull into a tie during the fourth set at 12-12. Kills from Mullikin and Fornah as well as a block from the pair continued to propel Wake toward victory, and the Deacs defeated the Wolfpack 25-20.

Wake recorded 65 digs against N.C. State, with junior Abby Miller and sophomore Megan Thornberry each contributing 15 digs. With 10 digs and 45 assists, Jones recorded her10th double-double of the season.

Mullikin dominated the Deacs’ defense at the net with five blocks and also added 13 kills. Fornah, who recorded two personal season-highs with 16 kills and six digs, led the offense. Homitz also tied a season-high with 10 kills.

When the Tar Heels came to town Oct. 4, the Deacs were ready with a boisterous crowd of 858 behind them and the confidence from their N.C. State victory.

The win was the fourth straight for the Deacs, improving their overall record to 13-4 and their ACC play to 4-1.

With 11 kills setting a new season-high, a .611 hitting percentage on 21 attempts and no errors, Homitz led the way for Wake at the net. Fornah and sophomore Lauren McIntyre also played the net well, contributing 10 and eight kills, respectively.

After two aces from freshman Cambrey Oehler and a 6-0 run sparked by a block from Fornah and McIntyre, the Deacs led 11-4. Three Homitz kills and two more from McIntyre put Wake ahead by 10 points. Oehler’s third and fourth service aces along with kills from Fornah and Homtiz led to Wake’s easy win over the Tar Heels, 25-13.

Despite the momentum following the first set victory, the Deacs fell behind in the opening of the second set, down 11-6 before calling a timeout. With kills from Homitz, Mullikin and Fornah, Wake pulled to within one point of the Tar Heels at 14-15.

The Deacs managed to take the lead at 19-18, forcing UNC to call a timeout. Revitalized, North Carolina went on a 3-0 run, regaining the advantage at 21-19.

Wake came out of its timeout and tied the game at 22-22, thanks to two Mullikin kills. Battling at the end of the second set, two kills by Fornah were rivaled by two UNC kills, and the set was tied again at 25-25. With an error by the Tar Heels and kills by Homitz and Mullikin, Wake claimed the victory, beating UNC-Chapel Hill 28-26.

Regaining the composure from the first set, Wake recorded another easy victory for the third set, and it sealed the match for the Deacons. The Deacs went on to win in this final set 25-15.

Junior Sally Fischer, who started in place of the injured White, recorded a career-high eight digs, and Oehler and Thornberry contributed 11 and nine, respectively. The Deacs out dug the Tar Heels 47 to 37 and recorded nine more blocks than UNC.

Wake travels to Clemson on Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. then to Georgia Tech on Oct. 11 at 7:30 p.m. for its first away ACC matches.