Wake Forest University
Clemson- ACC Tournament
Demon Deacons Fall To Clemson In ACC Tournament
11/21/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 21, 2003
ORLANDO, FL. -- The Wake Forest volleyball team fell in four games to Clemson in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex on Friday night. Despite 23 kills and 22 digs from Valerie Rydberg, the Demon Deacons lost their first round ACC Tournament match for the fourth consecutive year. Wake Forest entered the match seeded third, but hit just .205 as a team while Clemson hit .270 and had four players with at least 13 kills. The Deacs are now 21-9 overall while the Tigers improve to 18-15.
Wake Forest was led offensively by Rydberg, Christy Williams and Kim Stern. Williams finished the match with a .452 hitting percentage, 17 kills and seven total blocks. Stern added 15 kills and 10 digs for the Demon Deacons. Defensively, Sara Beth DeLisle led the team with a season-high 23 digs. Erin Borhart also contributed with 11 digs and 63 assists.
The Demon Deacons jumped out to the early lead with an exciting 35-33 win in game one. With the score tied at nine early on, Wake Forest put together a five-point run to grab a 14-9 lead. Three kills by Williams, one by Rydberg and a Clemson error put the Deacs ahead. But the Tigers came roaring right back to take a 19-17 lead later in the game. The teams continued to trade points back and forth, but a Clemson block gave them a 33-32 lead and a game point. But Rydberg came up with three huge kills in a row as the Deacs stormed back to take game one. Rydberg led all players with 11 kills in the game.
The Tigers started out strong in game two and built a 12-4 lead early on. Trailing 19-10, Wake Forest put together a small run, but could not overcome Clemson's .419 hitting percentage as the Tigers evened the match with a 30-22 victory in game two.
Game three went back-and-forth through the early stages with the teams tied at eight after 16 points. Kills by Williams and DeLisle along with two Clemson attack errors gave the Deacs a four point advantage. The Tigers fought their way back to take a 23-20 lead at the game's first timeout. A Clemson block, kill and Demon Deacon attack error put Wake Forest in a six-point hole late in the game. A kill by Clemson's Leslie Finn finished off the Deacs in game three by a score of 30-22.
Game four was another battle with the Demon Deacons leading 12-8 in the early going. But Clemson won eight of the next ten points and grabbed a 16-14 lead. The Deacs and Tigers continued to trade points and found themselves tied at 21-21. After two Clemson kills, Stern and Rydberg each responded with kills for Wake Forest, tying the score at 23. The Tigers grabbed a 30-29 lead after a Wake Forest blocking error, but a Stern kill brought the Deacs even again. Clemson was able to rally and score the next two points, ending the game and the match.
The Demon Deacons will return to action on Saturday, November 29th for their final home match of the season against Miami of Ohio.
