Wake Forest University
Clemson*
Demon Deacons Win Thriller Against Clemson
10/11/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 11, 2003
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.-- The Wake Forest volleyball team rebounded from Friday night's loss to #5 Georgia Tech by defeating Clemson in five games on Saturday evening at Reynolds Gymnasium. The Demon Deacons are now 4-2 in the ACC while the Tigers find themselves at 2-4. Wake Forest's Morgan Havig and Jessica Hauff both suffered injuries early in the match, but the Deacs were able to recover and rally for the victory.
"I was very proud of our team being able to come together," said Wake Forest head coach Valorie Baker. "We had to move some players around, but Kim (Stern) has played middle before and she went back to that while Ashley Fisher went back to the right side. The girls came together really well and picked up a strong team win."
Valerie Rydberg recorded a season-high 25 kills for the Demon Deacons and added 16 digs, marking her seventh consecutive double-double. Rydberg has now had at least 20 kills in three matches this season. Erin Borhart and Christy Williams combined for 23 kills, four solo blocks and both hit well over .300 while freshman Natasha Schaefer led Wake forest with 18 digs. Clemson's Leslie Finn led all players with 27 kills in the match.
Game one was a back-and-forth battle in which the score was tied six times, but the Demon Deacons wound up with a 30-26 victory. Wake Forest hit .244 and took advantage of eight Clemson errors to jump out to an early 1-0 lead. The Tigers tied the score with a 30-25 win in game two. The score was tied at 16, but Clemson never gave up the lead after that point and took advantage of three Finn kills on the last three plays to take game two.
Wake Forest took a 2-1 lead with a 30-27 victory in game two. Williams had five kills for the Deacs in the game, including one on the game-clinching point. But the Tigers came right back and responded with a 30-24 win in game four. The Demon Deacons trailed 14-13, but scored four straight points on the serve of Rydberg to go up by three points. With the score tied at 19, the Tigers got four straight points with Stephanie Haskell serving and took the lead for good in the game.
Rydberg recorded four of her kills in the fifth and deciding game, helping the Deacs to a 15-8 victory. Rydberg put away a kill on the first point of the game and Wake Forest never looked back. The Demon Deacons never trailed in the game as Fisher recorded the final kill to wrap up the match for Wake Forest.
The Demon Deacons return to action Thursday night when they travel to Chapel Hill for a 7:00 pm match against North Carolina.
