Oct. 30, 2009

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WINSTON-SALEM, NC - The Wake Forest volleyball team recorded a total of 61 digs in its four-set victory over visiting Maryland Friday night to raise over $8,000 in its fourth annual Dig For A Cure match.

The Deacons now even their record in the ACC at 6-6 with the victory and are now 8-15 overall. Maryland falls to 11-14 on the year and 3-9 in the conference.

The Terrapins came out of the gate strong and took the first set 25-20 but Wake rebounded to win the second set 25-21 and the third set 25-20 to take a 2-1 lead. In a heated fourth set, the Deacs rallied to score six of the last seven points to close out the match 25-22.

Junior libero Megan Thornberry led Wake with a match-high 21 digs. It was her fourth match this season with 20 or more digs and moves her into third all-time in school history with 1,199 career digs. With her next dig, she will become just the third Deacon to reach the 1,200-dig plateau and will be the quickest to do so.

It was only fitting that in Wake's Dig For a Cure match, senior Abby Miller would reach a milestone, recording her 1,000th career dig in the third set. She finished the night with six digs while junior Kristen White was just two digs shy of her career-high with 14.

On a night when the total digs were the highlight, the Deacon offense also had one of its best efforts of the year. Wake put away a total of 63 kills, which ties a season-high. The only other time this year the Deacons notched 63 kills was in College Park, Md., against the Terrapins on Sept. 26.

Freshman Andrea Beck led the way for the offense with a season-high 15 kills. She also tied her season-high with 17 points as she hit a solid .478 and recorded four total blocks. Sophomore Carlin Salmon chipped in with 14 kills while fellow sophomore Kadija Fornah finished the night with 12 kills and a career-best hitting percentage of .500. Fornah also finished with four total blocks.

As a result of both the good passing and hitting, junior setter Kelsey Jones finished the evening with a season-high 54 assists to go along with seven digs and four kills. Both White and junior Lauren McIntyre posted eight kills on the night for the Deacs.

Maryland also had three players with double-digit kills led by Brittany Grove's 13. Grove also finished the night with a double-double, recording 10 digs and one service ace. Kara Bates and Lisa Scott were the other two Terrapins to finish with double-digit kills as each notched 10. Setter Remy McBain dished out a total of 28 assists while collecting eight digs and libero Sam Rosario led UM with 14 digs.

Both teams hit the ball fairly well as Wake held a .268 hitting percentage and Maryland was at .208. The Deacs out-dug UM 61-49 but the visitors held the advantage in total blocks 9-5, and service aces 5-0.

Maryland broke a 9-9 tie in the first set with a 4-0 run to build a 13-9 lead and force Wake to use a timeout. Coming out of the stoppage, sophomore Cambrey Oehler pounded a kill to spark a 5-1 Wake Forest run which saw the Deacs even the score at 14-14 and prompted a Terrapin timeout. Fornah and Beck each had a kill and a block during the spurt.

Maryland would respond however, with two kills from Maddi Lee and a pair of service aces, the Terrapins went on a 9-3 run to take a commanding 23-17 lead. Wake would close to within four at 24-20 but eventually fell 25-20.

UM hit .371 in the first set and got five kills from Grove while Beck put away all four of her attack attempts in the set for the Deacs.

The second set would start out fairly even as the teams traded points up until Scott put away her second kill of the night to give Maryland a 10-9 lead. Wake then got a kill from White to spark a 7-1 run which saw Maryland burn both of its timeouts. Fornah had two kills while Jones and Salmon each chipped in a block and a kill during the run.

With Wake ahead 16-11, UM battled back with a 4-1 run to close to within one, but the Deacons would never relinquish the lead the rest of the set and would go on to win 25-21. White had four kills and two digs in the second set for Wake while Scott also finished the frame with four kills for Maryland.

Once again, the teams came out of the locker room and traded blows as neither team could muster more than a two-point lead early-on in the third set. With the score tied at 12-12, three-straight kills from Fornah, McIntyre and Beck sparked a 6-1 Wake run which again saw the Terrapins again burn both of its timeouts.

Maryland scored two quick points on a kill from Lee and a Deacon error to crawl to within three at 18-15 but just like the second set, Wake held UM at arms-length the rest of the set and would hang on for a 25-20 victory. The Deacs hit a match-best .364 in the third set thanks in large part to Fornah's six kills on seven attempts. Beck also finished the set with five kills while Salmon chipped in with four.

UM looked to have the edge early in the fourth set as the Terps raced out to a 4-1 lead but six errors later, they would trail 8-5 and were forced to call a timeout. The break was just what Maryland needed as Grove and Katie Usher each put away a pair of kills to lead the UM march back into the set. The Terps took an 11-10 lead but would only watch as three kills from Jones, Fornah and Salmon evened the score at 14-14.

The Wake run continued as Salmon and Beck each put away kills and then Beck teamed with Fornah for the duo's fourth block of the night to give Wake a 19-17 lead and prompt Maryland to use its final timeout. Again the Terrapins stormed out of the break on a 4-0 run to claim a 21-19 advantage but that's when a kill from White, followed by a kill from Salmon and another kill from White allowed Wake to retake a 22-21 lead and snatch away the momentum.

With Maryland unable to stop the action, the Terps gave away two more points on errors and after a Hayley Hanson kill, White stepped-up and finished the match with a thunderous kill, giving the Deacs a 25-22 victory.

The win over Maryland was the third-straight for the Deacs who also swept the season series with UM for the first time since 2006.

Wake will return to action Saturday night as it welcomes Boston College to town for a 7 pm match. The Eagles come in after falling in three sets on Friday night at Duke. All kids coming to the match dressed in a costume will receive free admission.