Nov. 11, 2009
WINSTON-SALEM, NC - The Wake Forest volleyball team will continue its current four-match road trip this weekend with matches at Virginia and Virginia Tech. The Deacons will take on Virginia at 7 pm on Friday evening and then Virginia Tech at 5 pm on Saturday. Wake is coming off a tough weekend in the Sunshine State where it played two good matches but couldn't scratch out a victory. On Friday against Miami, the Deacons cruised through first set and looked to take a 2-0 lead with set-point, 24-20 in the second set. But the `Canes scored the next six points to win the set and steal the momentum. Despite career nights from sophomore Kadija Fornah and junior Megan Thornberry, Wake was not able to recover and would fall in four sets. Fornah finished the match with a career-high 22 kills and recorded a career-best two block solos while Thornberry was not to be outdone as she collected a career-best 32 digs. Freshman Andrea Beck had her second-straight match with no hitting errors as she recorded 10 kills and hit a solid .400. On Sunday, the Deacons pushed No. 16 Florida State to the limit, but the hosts rallied for a 15-9 victory in the fifth set. Juniors Kristen White and Kelsey Jones each posted double-doubles in the setback as White had 18 kills and 12 digs while Jones notched 47 assists and was one dig shy of her career-high with 19. Fornah finished-off her solid weekend with 14 kills and five digs against the `Noles. Fornah leads the team with 260 kills and has recorded 10 or more kills in each of her last five matches. The West Palm Beach, Fla., is also averaging just over a dig per set on the year.
After missing the first 12 matches of the season with a finger injury, Thornberry has returned to form for the Deacs. After setting a school-record for most digs in a season last year, the St. Louis, Mo., native is third in the conference with 4.64 digs per set in 14 matches this season. Sophomore Carlin Salmon, junior Lauren McIntyre and Beck have all been solid in the front row for the Deacons this season. Salmon is second on the team with 2.21 kills per set and tops the squad with 92 total blocks. McIntyre is hitting a modest .233 with 167 kills and 39 blocks while Beck leads the team with a .267 hitting percentage and is second with 79 blocks. Beck has hit .327 with 47 kills and 22 blocks in the last five matches. Jones has once again been one of the main keys to the Deacon offense. After making a remarkable recovery from off-season hip surgery, the Ada, Mich., native is averaging 10.15 assists per set and tops the team with 11 double-doubles. She posted back-to-back double-doubles last weekend in Florida and has averaged 11.16 assists per set and 2.85 digs per set in her last five matches. Virginia comes into the weekend with an 11-15 overall record and a 6-9 mark in the ACC. The Cavaliers started the season 6-4 but then dropped nine of their next ten matches to fall to 7-13. However, the Hoos have gone 4-2 over the last three weekends which includes a thrilling 3-2 victory over Miami. Last week, UVa fell to North Carolina in four sets before rebounding to drop NC State in three. The Cavaliers are led offensively by sophomore outside hitter Simone Asque. Asque is the only ACC player to earn multiple Player of the Week honors this season as she earned the award back-to-back on Oct. 27 and Nov. 2. The Chicago, Ill., native has 339 kills, which is nearly 150 more than teammate Lauren Dickson (194), who is second on the team. Asque is also third in the ACC with 3.68 kills per set. Dickson is averaging 2.94 kills per set while Sydney Hill is third at 1.76. Hill is also second on the team in blocks behind Jessica O'Shoney, who tops the squad with a total of 67. Setter Rachel Grey is one of four Cavaliers to have played in every set this season as she is averaging 9.64 assists per set while also collecting over two digs per set. AJ Cushman and Brittani Rendina have also played in all 92 sets and are tops on the team in digs. Cushman is averaging 3.52 digs per set and is fifth in the conference with 32 service aces while Rendina has collected a total of 291 digs and has 15 aces. Behind Cushman and Rendina, the Cavaliers are fourth in the conference in both digs and service aces per set but their opponents are hitting a league-worst .245 against them. UVa holds a slim 19-17 advantage in the all-time series with Wake as the Deacons claimed a 3-1 victory earlier this season. In fact, the home team has won each of the last four meetings in the series with the last three coming by 3-1 counts. The Hokies are 17-9 overall and come into the weekend tied with the Deacs in the conference at 7-8. VT started the season 10-1 but then dropped four of the next five to fall to 11-5. But the Hokies rebounded with five-straight victories, including three in a row over North Carolina Georgia Tech and Clemson. Since then, Tech is just 1-4 with its lone win coming over NC State last weekend. Offensively, the Hokies are led by the trio of Justine Record, Felicia Willoughby and Cara Baarendse. Record tops the squad with 276 kills and his hitting a respectable .207 on the outside. She is also second on the team at 2.56 digs per set and is third in conference with 43 service aces. Willoughby has recorded 266 kills with a .306 hitting percentage and leads the team with a total of 121 blocks. Her 1.21 blocks per set are also third-best in the league. Baarendse has played in 102 of the 103 total sets for the Hokies and has notched 227 kills and 46 assists. She is also second on the team in blocks with 61. Setter Erin Leaser has had a very good year as she is second in the ACC with 11.10 assists per set. She has also blocked a total of 43 attacks and is averaging just under two digs per set. Libero Jill Gergen is the leading Hokie in digs with 400 and is one of the reasons Tech is fourth in the conference in opponent hitting percentage. VT is also third in kills per set at 13.60 and fourth in assists per set. VT leads the all-time series with Wake 22-9. The Demon Deacons won three of the first five meetings but then the Hokies won the next 14 matches in a row. Wake has won each of the last two meetings in Winston-Salem, including this year by a score of 3-1 on Oct. 2, but hasn't won in Blacksburg since 1980. Live scoring will be available for each match. Check www.WakeForestSports.com for links to each school's live scoring page. |
