Sports > September 7, 2005

By Ryan Durham

Assistant Sports Editor

In their opening series of the 2005 season, the Demon Deacon volleyball team traveled Sept. 2-3 to Louisville, Ky. to attend the Courtyard by Marriot Airport Classic. There the team dropped two out of three matches, but came away with their first victory of the year.

Wake Forest started the tournament off against 14th-ranked Louisville Sept. 2. The Cardinals started the first game on fire, racing to a 17-3 lead over the Deacons. The team never recovered from the slow start and lost the game, 30-14.

The Deacons got off on a better foot in game two, coming out with a 4-3 lead. They managed to stay with Louisville,  until a 6-0 Cardinal run led to another defeat for the Deacons.

Game three stayed close during the early points of the match but the team was unable to hold off a Cardinal rally. They ultimately lost the game 30-21, and the match, 3-0. Senior setter Erin Borhart had a good showing with 18 assists and was one of three Deacons to record five kills.

“I think good things came out of this weekend because now we can see our strengths,” Borhart said.

Sept. 3 brought the reality of a double-header into view for Wake Forest.

The first match of the day was against Tennessee State University. The first game was close, but a 6-1 run and a 4-1 run by the Deacons late in the scrap helped to seal their first game win.

Game two proved even more fruitful for Wake Forest as they quickly jumped out to a 10-4 lead. The Tigers attempted to come back with a 7-1 run at the 23-18 mark, but they could not capitalize.

The team managed to finish off the game 30-26, bringing them one step closer to their first win of the season.The Deacons wrapped up their sweep of Tennessee with a 30-22 win in game three. The game was close in the first few points, but at a tie of six all, Wake Forest went on a 12-4 run that helped them to seal the win.

Borhart finished the match with eight digs and 26 assists. Sophomore middle blocker Jackie Lucas also had a good showing, having six kills and hitting .362. Sophomore outside hitter Michael Faulkner contributed with eight kills of her own, a team high for the game.

The evening of Sept. 3 gave the team its final match of the tournament against Ohio State. The Bobcats scored quickly in game one, widening their lead to 11-3. Wake Forest, despite an excellent performance by Borhart, could not recover from this gap and lost the game 30-19.

The Deacons kept Ohio close in game two of the match.

They tied the score 24 times and traded the lead eight times over the course of the game. Never down by more than a point until the 27-26 mark, the Deacs barely lost the game with a final score of 30-27.

The third and final game of the match was similar to the first. The Bobcats jumped out to a 12-5 lead that the Deacons were never able to overcome, despite a commanding performance by Lucas who had two kills and three block assists in the game. The final score ended at 30-19.

“I was a little disappointed in the beginning because we didn’t come out attacking as much as I would have liked but we played well on defense and got stronger throughout the tournament,” Head Coach Heather Kahl said.

Wake Forest performed well on the court. They were led in the game by Lucas, who had eight kills and seven block assists. Junior defensive specialist Natasha Schaefer had 11 digs, and Borhart managed eight.

“We did really well, but there is still a lot of room for improvement,” Lucas said, “We are going into the weekend with confidence, but its not going to be a walk in the park

Wake Forest, now 1-2, returns to action Sept. 9 and 10 at the UTA Invitational in Arlington, Texas.