Oct. 25, 2008
Box Score | Box Score in PDF Format 
WINST0N-SALEM, N.C. -
The Wake Forest volleyball team improved its home record to 12-1 this season as the Demon Deacons pulled out a hard-fought three set sweep of visiting Maryland Saturday evening in Reynolds Gym.
The Deacons took the first two sets by matching scores of 25-21 and won the match with a 25-23 victory in the third. The win was the sixth straight at home and improves the Deacs record to 15-8 overall. Wake finishes the first half of the conference season with a 6-5 record.
The skid continues for the Terps, who have now lost 10 straight and fall to 5-18 overall and 1-10 in the conference.
Tonight was the Demon Deacon's 3rd annual Dig For the Cure match in which fans could donate money or set a price per number of digs the Deacons recorded. With 52 total digs this evening, the Deacons made an estimated $11,000 for the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer research.
Out of the 52 digs, sophomore libero Megan Thornberry recorded a team-high 15 while junior Sally Fischer collected a career-high 12.
Offensively, sophomore setter Kelsey Jones, the ACC's leading setter, dished out 34 assists in the three sets and graduate student Natalie Mullikin was on the receiving end of 11 of those assists.
Sophomore Kristen White and senior Ashley Homitz each chipped in with eight kills apiece while sophomore Lauren McIntyre and freshman Kadija Fornah each added seven.
The Deacons also doubled up Maryland in blocks, stuffing the Terps a total of 12 times. Mullikin led the way with six total blocks and now is just 15 block assists away from breaking Margaret Davidson's school record of 388.
McIntyre added a total of five blocks and Jones chipped in with three.
The Terrapins hit just .098 on the night and were led by middle blocker Katie Usher's nine kills and .389 hitting percentage. Hayley Hanson dished out 16 assists and libero Bethany Springer collected a match-high 22 digs.
With the score tied a 7-7 in the first set, kills from Homitz and Mullikin sparked the first of many Wake Forest runs on the night as the Deacs won 10 of the next 12 points to open up a 17-9 lead.
But Maryland got a pair of blocks from Mary Beth Brown and Meredith Doyle along with some sloppy play from the Deacs to counter with an 11-1 run of its own and snatch a 20-18 lead.
A kill from McIntyre was followed by a kill from Brown for Maryland to keep the score at 21-19 in favor of the Terps. Homitz took a set from Jones and pulled the Deacs within one at 21-20, bringing Fischer to the service line.
The junior served the Deacons to a pair of points on kills from Homitz and White before an attack error by the Terps gave Wake a 23-21 advantage. Fischer then recorded one of her two service aces on the night to give the Deacs a set-point. Homitz put away her fourth kill of the set to give Wake a 25-21 victory.
The teams took turns trading punches in the second set as the Deacons opened up a 14-4 lead after an 11-1 run. Maryland countered with a 5-1 run of its own to pull to within six at 15-9.
After a Wake Forest timeout, Fischer notched her first kill of the season followed by a block and a pair of kills from Mullikin to send the Deacs on a 6-2 spurt and give them a commanding 21-11 advantage.
But again, the Terps answered with an 8-2 to run to close to within four at 23-19 but a kill from McIntyre gaveWake a set-point at 24-19. Maryland staved off two set-points but a block assist from Mullikin and White pushed the Deacs over the top for a 25-21 victory. Wake had a total of six blocks in the set led by McIntyre's three.
Three kills from Mullikin would give Wake an early 4-0 lead in the third set and the Deacs would never look back.
Wake eventually opened up a 14-7 lead but, like they did all night, the Terps fought back with an 8-3 run to make pull to within two at 17-15.
However, the Deacons held strong down the stretch, never giving up the lead as Maryland pulled to within one on four different occasions, with the last coming at 24-23. White took Usher's serve and made a pass to Jones at the net, who, instead of setting up an attacker, finished the match herself with her first kill of the night.
The win was Wake's fifth in the last six meetings between the two schools and it was also the fifth straight at home, dating back to 2004.
The Deacons will head out on the road for a pair of key-ACC matches next week. Wake will be at Florida State Friday night at 7 p.m. and then at Miami on Sunday at 1 p.m. Coming into the night, Miami was in a five-way tie for first in the conference at 7-3 and FSU was tied with the Deacs at 5-5.
