Wake Forest University
North Carolina*
Demon Deacons Get Crucial Win Against North Carolina
11/14/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 14, 2003
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.-- Wake Forest's largest volleyball crowd of the season packed into Reynolds Gymnasium Friday evening and saw the Demon Deacons take an exciting 3-1 victory over North Carolina. The Tar Heels and Deacs are now both 9-6 and tied for third place in the ACC with just one conference match remaining. Ten different Wake Forest players saw playing time and helped the Demon Deacons avenge their October 16th loss to North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Five different players recorded at least ten kills for Wake Forest, including sophomore Valerie Rydberg and senior Jessica Hauff who each surpassed the 700-career kill mark with their performances tonight. Rydberg put away 26 kills and had 21 digs which were both match-highs. Hauff had 12 kills to go along with six digs and six total blocks. Rydberg and Hauff become just the fifth and sixth Demon Deacons ever to reach the 700- career kill mark.
Head coach Valorie Baker knew this was an important match for her team and was impressed with how they played. "Coming into the match, we knew that Carolina was one up on us in the ACC. So we knew that winning this would hopefully improve our seeding in the ACC Tournament. I felt the girls stayed focused throughout the match and that allowed us to outplay Carolina and get the win," said Baker.
Freshman Lauren Peterson also had an outstanding match, putting away 17 kills and setting a new career-high with nine digs. Junior Kim Stern added 12 kills and nine digs while sophomore setter Erin Borhart came up one dig shy of her second career triple-double. Borhart notched 11 kills and nine digs to go along with a match-high 57 assists.
Wake Forest jumped out to an early 1-0 lead thanks to a 30-25 victory in game one. Rydberg and Peterson combined for seven kills on the first 18 points and gave the Deacs a 13-5 advantage. Wake Forest continued to roll and led by as many as ten points at 19-9. The Tar Heels were able to slightly close the gap, but with the score 29-25, Rydberg finished off any comeback attempt with another kill on match point.
The Tar Heels bounced back and tied the match with a 30-26 win in the second game. North Carolina hit a match-best .375 as a team and commited just three errors in the game. The score was even at 18, but UNC took seven of the next nine points and built a 25-20 lead from which they never looked back.
The third game was an exciting, back-and-forth battle which saw the score tied ten different times. But the Deacs came out on top with another 30-25 victory. They hit .357 as a team and Rydberg added seven kills to help give Wake Forest a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Demon Deacons used their own momentum to finish off North Carolina with a 30-23 win in the fourth and final game. With the score tied 12-12, Wake Forest scored six straight points, four coming while Stern served. Hauff, Borhart and Rydberg each contributed with kills during that stretch as the Demon Deacons held the lead and cruised to an important victory.
Wake Forest returns to action Saturday evening at 6 p.m. when it hosts NC State at Reynolds Gymnasium in the final match of the ACC regular season. Saturday is senior night at Reynolds Gym as each of Wake Forest's five seniors will be honored prior to the start of the match.
