Wake Forest Athletics
Volleyball Continues Road Trip; Visits Virginia Tech and Virginia
10/15/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 15, 2008
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest volleyball team will head to the state of Virginia for a pair of matches this weekend as it looks to stop its current two-match skid. The Demon Deacons will face Virginia Tech at 7 p.m. on Friday evening before heading to Virginia for a noon matchup on Sunday.
The Deacons (13-6, 4-3 ACC) are tied for fourth in the ACC after dropping back-to-back matches to Clemson and Georgia Tech last weekend. It was only the second time this season that Wake has lost back-to-back matches and the first since losing three in a row at the Adidas Classic in Indiana on Sept. 5-6.
The Hokies won their first five ACC matches and continue to lead the conference with a 6-1 record. Virginia enters the weekend with a 3-4 conference mark and an 11-8 record overall.
Graduate student Natalie Mullikin provided the only bright spot last weekend for the Deacs, as her six total blocks broke Margaret Davidson's school record for most career blocks. Mullikin teamed with sophomore Kristen White for a block assist in the third set against Georgia Tech to record her record-breaking 473rd block.
The Lebanon, Ind., native already holds the school record for most career block solos with 113 and she is just 29 block assists away from holding the school record in all three blocking categories.
Sophomore setter Kelsey Jones is already creeping up the career record books. Her team-leading 735 assists this season give her 1,804 for her career, which is fourth-most in school history. She is just 18 assists away from surpassing Jill Daugherty and moving into fourth place all-time.
The strong play of the defense has been one of the constants this season for Deacs. Leading the way in the back row is sophomore libero Megan Thornberry. The St. Louis, Mo., native leads the team with 310 digs and is averaging 4.49 digs per set, which is fifth in the ACC. She has also notched double-digit digs in 17 of the 19 matches this season.
Junior defensive specialist Abby Miller has also played well in the back row thus far, averaging 2.80 digs per set and she is third on the team with 193 total digs.
Jones has notched ten double-doubles this season and she not only tops the team with 735 assists but she also leads the ACC with 10.65 assists per set.
Fellow sophomore Kristen White has had a solid all-around start to the season. She is second on the team with 174 kills and fourth at 2.53 digs per set.
Mullilkin leads the team offensively with 217 kills and is hitting a solid .322. She is averaging 3.19 kills per set which is sixth in the conference. Freshman Kadija Fornah is third on the team in kills with 162 and senior Ashley Homitz is fourth with 107 kills.
In addition to Mullikin having a record-setting season at the net, sophomore Lauren McIntyre is also holding her own. The middle blocker from Indianapolis, Ind., has a total of 70 total blocks and is just one block solo behind Mullikin with 13 on the season.
In addition to Fornah playing a major role in her first season on campus, fellow freshman Cambrey Oehler has started every match and has played in 68 or the 69 sets. For the season, Oehler has recorded 38 kills, 129 digs and tops the team with 14 service aces.
Scouting Virginia Tech
The Hokies are 15-3 overall and are leading the ACC with a 6-1 mark mainly because they are holding their opponents to just a .141 hitting percentage, which is also tops in the conference. Tech also leads the ACC with a team total of 124 service aces.
On the flip side, sophomore Felicia Willoughby tops the team with 172 kills and is second in the conference with a .415 hitting percentage. Willoughby also leads the team with 72 total blocks. Junior Betsy Horowitz is fourth in the ACC with a .368 hitting percentage and leads the team with 23 service aces.
Virginia Tech has won 11 of its last 12 matches with the lone loss coming in a five-set setback at North Carolina last Thursday. In fact, all three of Tech's losses this season have come in five sets.
The Hokies lead the all-time series with Wake 21-8 and have won 19 out of the last 23 meetings in the series. Last season, VT downed Wake 3-1 in Winston-Salem and swept the Deacs at home in Blacksburg. Wake hasn't won in Blacksburg since Sept. 30, 1980.
Scouting Virginia
The Cavaliers have had a bit of an up-and-down season thus. UVA was 8-4 in non-conference action and started out by dropping its first three ACC contests. But the Hoos rebounded with road wins over Boston College, Maryland and North Carolina before falling at NC State last Saturday.
The number two has been the magic number so far this season for junior Laura Dickson. She tops the team with 220 kills, 22 services and is second on the team with 222 digs. Dickson has also dished 22 assists but bucked the trend with 33 total blocks.
The duo of Marlow Bruneau (448) and Kelly Irvin (206) lead the team in assists while Shannon Davis and Kendahl Voelker are second and third on the team with 143 and 140 kills, respectively.
Sophomore Sydney Hill tops the team with 79 total blocks and Brittani Rendina leads the team with 268 digs.
Virginia holds a slim 18-15 advantage in the all-time series with Wake. The Deacons won all six matches from 2001-03 but Virginia has won seven of the last eight, including the last three meetings. The Cavaliers hold an 8-5 edge in matches played in Memorial Gym.
The Virginia Tech game can be seen on ACC Select while the Virginia contest can be followed online via CSTV's Gametracker.
