Sports > November 18, 2004

By Ryan Durham

Old Gold & Black Reporter

The Demon Deacon volleyball team took the court Nov. 13 for its last home game of the regular season against the 13-12 Hokies of Virginia Tech and pulled out a 3-1 win.

Wake Forest was coming off two losses Nov. 5 and 6, putting its record at 11-15. The Deacs were determined to go out of the regular season on a high note, though.

The Demon Deacons started off game one going point for point with the Hokies. Then, the Deacs got a wind and took Virginia Tech on an 8-2 run. At the 18-14 mark, the Hokies had a 4-0 scoring run of their own to tie the game at 18.

A kill by senior Kim Stern and an ace by junior Erin Borhart put the Deacs back ahead. Then, with two kills by sophomore Lauren Peterson and a kill by Borhart the Deacs captured the first game 30-25.

Game two started off much the same for the Deacons they traded the lead with the Hokies nine times. The Hokies then took a three-point run, making the score 16-12. The Demon Deacons managed to rally back to tie the game at 20.

After that, a kill by Borhart and attack errors on the part of the Hokies helped the Deacs take the game 30-26.

The Hokies got an early lead in the third game of the series with a 4-1 run. The Demon Deacons managed three straight kills to tie the score at six, though.

The two teams went back and forth 11 more times before Collette Ramirez came to the line for Virginia Tech at the 25-24 mark.

She served five straight points for the Hokies, eventually giving Virginia Tech the win at 30-25.

In game four of the match, both teams came out fighting, knotting the score 16 times. The Deacs then went on a 7-1 run to take the lead at 27-22.

Junior Christy Williams then scored a powerful kill and had a solo block to end the game at 30-24. This gave Wake Forest the 3-1 win.

“It was an emotional game being Senior Night but to defeat a team that had beat us in the past was a definite confidence boost,” Head Coach Valorie Baker said.

Borhart had an excellent game, recording her sixth triple-double of the season. She had 50 assists, 16 digs and 10 kills.

Freshman Michael Faulkner also managed to record her first career double-double in the match. She had an amazing 16 kills and 17 digs.

Stern had nine kills and nine digs in the game and senior Morgan Havig had seven kills and one dig.

This game ended the season on a bit of a sad note, as it was also Senior Night. It was the last regular season appearance for Stern, senior Morgan Havig and junior Valerie Rydberg. Rydberg will not play next season because of injuries. All three of these players have contributed much of their college lives to the team and they will be missed.

“It was a little bittersweet to play the last home game of my career and for all the seniors,” Stern said. “You always think you will be ready for it but when it comes you are kind of sad to see it go.”

These seniors and the rest of the Deacon squad return to action Nov. 18 against the Terrapins of Maryland in the the first round of the ACC tournament in Charlottesville, Va. The two teams split the season series 1-1.

“Our performance makes me confident that we can beat Maryland,” Faulkner said. “We beat them last time and I think we can do it again.”

If the 10th seeded Deacs win against the seventh seeded Maryland, they will face the Miami on Nov. 19.