The Deacons will hold it 3rd annual Dig For A Cure match against the Terrapins on Saturday
Oct. 22, 2008
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -
After four straight road matches, the Wake Forest Volleyball team returns home to host a pair of ACC matches this weekend in the friendly confines of Reynolds Gym. The Demon Deacons will welcome in Boston College on Friday night at 7 p.m before taking on Maryland Saturday evening at 5 p.m.
The weekend is full of activities as Saturday's match will be the Deacon's 3rd annual Susan G. Komen Dig For a Cure match. In addition to a pink rally towel giveaway, fans will have the opportunity to win and purchase pink t-shirts and one will lucky fan will win the Komen Grand Prize Raffle. The Demon Deacon players will also take part in an autograph session following the match.
Friday night's match with BC will also feature a Komen raffle and can be seen on ACC Select.
The return to Reynolds Gym could not have come soon enough for the Deacons as they have dropped their last four matches away from home. Another reason is that Wake is off to a 10-1 start in Reynolds Gym, which is the best start in school history. The lone loss was a hard-fought five-set setback to Florida State on Sept. 25.
Last weekend, the Deacs suffered a pair of four-set losses to Virginia Tech and Virginia. In both matches, Wake rolled to easy victories in its two set wins but couldn't find a way to keep the momentum. After dropping the first set to the Hokies, Wake rallied to win the second set 25-15 and against Virginia, the Deacs took the opening set 25-14 but lost the next three.
The Deacons have a number of players among the ACC statistical leaders. Sophomore Kelsey Jones not only tops the team with 826 assists, she also tops the ACC at 10.73 assists per set. Jones is also among the national leaders, ranking 34th in assists per set.
After her strong hitting performance last weekend, Mullikin has moved up to seventh in the ACC in hitting percentage at .331 and sixth in kills per set at 3.32.
Mullikin also leads the team with 252 kills this season, giving her 1,280 for her career. She is just 11 kills away from passing
Margaret Davidson for third all-time in school history.
Mullikin already passed Davidson for the most total blocks in a career on Oct. 11, vs. Georgia Tech and now has set her sights on Davidson's career block assists mark. Mullikin needs just 23 more block assists to pass Davidson which would give her ownership of all three school blocking records.
Sophomore Lauren McIntyre recorded a total of 15 blocks in the two matches last weekend to vault herself to fourth in the conference at 1.20 blocks per set. That total also has her ranked 40th in the country.
This is the first time McIntyre has made her way into the top-ten in the ACC this season as she has taken over the block lead from Mullikin, 85 to 82.
Fellow sophomore Megan Thornberry has been solid all season in the back row. She averaged 5.25 digs per set last week against the Hokies and Cavaliers and moved to fourth in the conference at 4.57 digs per set. Thornberry has also collected 15 or more digs in a match 15 times this season.
Boston College comes to Winston-Salem in search of its first win in conference action. The Eagles started the season 3-5 but won three of its next four to close with a non-conference record of 6-6. However, four-set setbacks to both Maryland and NC State followed by seven straight sweeps have the Eagles reeling.
Offensively, BC is led by freshman Jordan Meredith, who has recorded 226 kills and 3.10 kills per set. She is also second on the team with 156 digs and 21 service aces.
The duo of Brittany Pierpoint and Dani Moskitis lead the team in assists with 351 and 293, respectively.
Defensively, Brennan Clark tops the squad with 276 digs and Melanie Cimino has recorded a team-high 37 total blocks.
Boston College and Wake Forest have played just six times with Wake holding a 4-2 edge. Last season, each team held serve on its home court as the Deacons won 3-0 on Sept. 21 and the Eagles pulled out a 3-2 victory on Oct. 28.
Maryland also comes to town reeling, having dropped its last eight matches. The Terps are 5-16 overall and 1-8 in the conference with its lone win coming over Boston College on Sept. 23.
Last weekend, the Terrapins were swept by both Georgia Tech and Clemson at home. In the GT match, Maryland fell in all three sets but identical scores of 25-22.
Katie Usher has had a solid season thus far, recording a team-leading 193 kills and is hitting .269. Usher is also second on the team with a total of 65 blocks.
Bethany Springer currently sits eighth in the conference with 307 digs and 4.15 digs per set. Lisa Scott has a team-high 78 blocks and is fourth on the team with 137 kills.
Maryland holds a 21-12 edge over Wake in the all-time series. The wins have seemed to come in spurts in the series as the Terrapins won the first 13 matches played between the two teams and the Deacons responded by winning the next seven.
Maryland then won seven of the next eight from 2002 to 2005 with Wake holding the upper hand as of late, winning four of the last five matches. Last season, each team won on its home court with both wins coming by way of three-set sweeps.
After this weekend, the Deacons will hit the road again to take on Florida State at 7 pm on Friday, Oct. 31 and then head to Miami for a 1 p.m. match on Sunday, Nov. 2.
