Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
Winthrop
Wake Forest Volleyball Suffers Five-Game Defeat to Winthrop
9/16/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 16, 2006
WINSTON-SALEM - Wake Forest's bid to make it three-straight five-game wins came up just short, as the Demon Deacons fell in five games to Winthrop in the championship match of the Black and Gold Challenge Saturday evening. The Eagles defeated the Deacs 25-30, 30-16, 30-27, 22-30, 15-9.
Wake finished the weekend with a 2-1 record after earning five-game wins over both George Washington and Davidson. Winthrop won the tournament title with a perfect 3-0 record.
Senior Lauren Peterson and redshirt sophomore Natalie Mullikin were named to the All-Tournament team.
Winthrop's Shannan Sitzmann was named Tournament MVP, while the Eagles' Emily Stockman earned All-Tournament honors as well. Davidson's Kittery Neale and George Washington's Kaimana Lee rounded out the All-Tournament squad.
For the weekend, Mullikin and Peterson posted 43 and 40 kills respectively. Mullikin also added 12 block assists and three block solos, while Peterson tallied six block assists. Both had double-digit kill totals in all three matches, and Mullikin had a career-best seven block assists in Wake's win over Davidson.
Peterson and Mullikin led the way against Winthrop with 11 and 10 kills respectively. Mullikin also added four block assists and a block solo, while Peterson registered three block assists.
Freshman Abby Miller, making her first career start at libero, led the Demon Deacons with five service aces. Miller also had 12 digs.
Fellow freshman Dylan Faulkner led the defensive effort with 15 digs, while also dishing out 42 assists.
Junior Jackie Lucas had six block assists and one block solo to give her 14 total blocks on the weekend.
Senior Jenna Doane and freshmen Sally Fischer and Sara Uniacke each had two service aces apiece.
In game one, Wake Forest used an 11-5 run to break a 10-10 tie and pull away for a 21-15 lead. The Deacons held on the rest of the way for a 30-25 victory.
In game two, Winthrop never trailed, as it built an early 9-3 lead. Wake Forest pulled to within one at 10-9, but six straight points by the Eagles ended the threat and sealed the convincing 30-16 win.
Game three proved to be much closer with both teams trading leads back-and-forth. With the score tied 23-23, Winthrop scored four unanswered points to take command of the game. Wake got within two at 28-26, but the Eagles quickly put away the threat to take the game 30-27.
Wake Forest rebounded to come out of the gates quickly in game four, running away with a 13-3 lead. The Demon Deacons held on to the sizable margin throughout, never letting the Eagles get closer than six points.
In game five, Wake took an early 4-3 lead before a 6-1 Winthrop run gave the Eagles control of the game. Winthrop held on to earn a 15-9 win, giving the Eagles the tournament title.
With the loss, Wake falls to 4-5 on the year, while Winthrop improves its record to 12-1. The Demon Deacons are now 2-2 in five-game matches this season.
Wake Forest returns to action next Friday when it opens up ACC play by hosting Georgia Tech at 7 p.m. The Deacs will also host conference-rival Clemson on Saturday at 6 p.m.
