Wake Forest Athletics
Demon Deacons Get Ready For Weekend Volleyball Action
10/23/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 23, 2003
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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.-- The Wake Forest volleyball team continues a five-match homestand with matches this weekend against Florida State (11-10, 2-6 ACC) and Virginia (20-5, 4-5 ACC). The Deacs will take on the Seminoles Saturday at 6 p.m. and come right back for a matchup against the Cavaliers at 3 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
This will be the second meeting this season between Florida State and Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons took a 3-1 victory in the first meeting between the teams on October 4 in Tallahassee. This win broke a three-match losing streak against Florida State for the Deacs. The Seminoles hold a 13-4 all-time advantage over Wake Forest.
Wake Forest opened up its ACC season with a 3-1 victory over Virginia on September 26. The Cavaliers entered the match with a 16-game winning streak, the longest in Virginia's history. But the Deacs were led by Valerie Rydberg who had 20 kills and 18 digs helping to hand the Cavs their first loss of the season. The all-time series between Wake Forest and Virginia is now tied at twelve.
The Deacs began the second half of their ACC schedule with a tough 3-1 loss to Maryland on Tuesday night in Reynolds Gymnasium. Wake Forest hit just .174 as a team and fell to 5-4 in the ACC while Maryland improved to 8-1.
Redshirt sophomore Valerie Rydberg had a streak of eight consecutive double-doubles snapped Oct. 17 at NC State. The redshirt-sophomore from Lemont, Ill. has recorded 14 double-doubles in just 20 matches played this season. Entering the week, Rydberg was fourth in the ACC with 3.97 kills per game and led the league with 0.64 service aces per game. Rydberg also ranked third in the ACC with 3.64 digs per game. With her 20 kill, 26 dig performance on Sept. 30 at Duke, the Lemont, Ill. native surpassed the 500-mark in both categories during her career at Wake Forest.
Sophomore setter Erin Borhart achieved a feat rarely seen in volleyball at Florida State on Oct. 4. Borthart had 14 kills and 13 digs to go along with 37 assists, recording the first triple- double of her career. Borhart recorded her 1,000th career assist in Tuesday's loss to Maryland.
Wake Forest's 3-1 victory at Florida State on Oct. 4 gave head coach Valorie Baker 68 career wins, moving her ahead of Gale Chamblee (1978-80) into second place on the Demon Deacons' all-time victories list. Baker is now 70-44 in her fourth season at the helm for Wake Forest. She has a 31-27 record in ACC matches.
The Demon Deacons did not waste many games through the first 20 matches of this season. Entering the week, Wake Forest had played just 70 games, an average of 3.5 games per match. This was the second lowest games played total in the ACC next to fourth-ranked Georgia Tech's 65. Only seven of the Deacs' 20 matches lasted more than three games and they played just three games in 11 of their first 12 matches this season. Ten of Wake Forest's 15 wins have been 3-0 sweeps this season, surpassing last year's total of nine sweeps.
At 15-6 overall in 2003, the Demon Deacons have already surpassed their win total from a year ago. The 2002 Wake Forest volleyball team finished the season 14-18 overall with a 6-10 mark in the ACC. The Deacs have seven remaining conference matches this year and need just two wins to surpass last year's total.
