Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
Duke
Volleyball downs Duke in five-set thriller
9/30/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 30, 2008
Box Score | Box Score in PDF Format 
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest got strong defensive performances from a number of players to take down visiting Duke in an epic five-set thriller Tuesday evening in Reynolds Gym. The Wake win (21-25, 25-21, 25-22, 18-25 17-15) was the second straight ACC victory for the Demon Deacons.
Wake dropped the first set but rebounded to win the next two sets and take a 2-1 lead. The Blue Devils jumped out early in the fourth set and would hang on to force a dramatic fifth and deciding set. The teams went back and fourth in the fifth set with Wake pulling out an exciting 17-15 victory.
The story of the match for the Deacs was the play of their defense. The Blue Devils came into the match with the best team hitting percentage in the ACC at .288 and Wake held them to just a .108 percentage tonight.
Sophomore Kristen White tied her season-high with 17 digs while freshman Cambrey Oehler also set a new season-high with 17 digs. Oehler had previously notched a season-high nine digs on two different occasions.
Libero Megan Thornberry and junior Abby Miller continued their stellar play, as Thornberry posted a team-high 26 digs and Miller chipped in with 15.
Setter Kelsey Jones had another good match for the Deacons, who improve to 11-4 overall and 2-1 in the ACC. Jones dished out 45 assists and tied her career-high with 19 digs. It was Jones' ninth double-double of the season.
Wake Forest also out blocked the Blue Devils 14.0 to 11.0, led by a team-high eight total blocks from sophomore Lauren McIntyre. Jones, White and graduate student Natalie Mullikin all added three total blocks in the match.
Offensively, Mullikin led the Deacon attack with 17 kills on 43 attempts. White chipped in with 16 kills and coupled with her 17 digs, she notched her fifth double-double of the season.
For Duke (10-5, 1-2 ACC), junior Rachael Moss led the way with 16 kills and 20 digs. Jourdan Norman also had 16 kills and a team-high eight total blocks. Setter Kellie Cantanach dished out 46 assists to go along with 17 digs.
The first set was back-and-forth as neither team led by more than three points until the end. With the score tied at 17-17, the Blue Devils took advantage of some sloppy play by the Deacons to go on a 5-1 run and would eventually take the first set 25-21.
Duke took another early lead at 9-8 in the second set but Wake then went on a 6-0 run sparked by a kill from White and Miller's second kill of the season. Duke pulled to within one at 17-16 but another 6-0 Wake run extended the lead to seven and the Deacs would hold on for a 25-21 victory.
After the break, Wake looked to have kept the advantage but couldn't break away by more than three points. Duke climbed to within one on numerous occasions with the last coming at 23-22 when a service error from Moss and an attack error by Catanach gave the Deacs a 25-22 victory. Mullikin posted six kills and Miller added seven digs in the set.
In the fourth set, Duke won the first four points and would never look back. Wake managed to tie the score at 8-8 and 9-9 but a 5-0 Duke run opened up a six-point lead at 18-12. The Deacs climbed to within three at 21-18 but Duke scored the last four points to send the match into a fifth set. Wake hit -.136 in the fourth set.
Duke led early in the fifth set at 4-3 but a kill from freshman Kadija Fornah and a pair of Blue Devil errors gave the Deacs a 6-4 lead. Wake kept Duke at arms length until an error from Oehler and a kill by Norman brought the Blue Devils to within one a 12-11.
After a Demon Deacon timeout, Mullikin posted a kill followed by a service error from White and an attack error by Duke's Moss to take a 14-12 lead.
With the crowd on their feet, a kill from Moss and an attack error from Fornah evened the score at 14-14.
Fornah atoned for her mistake on the next point with a huge kill but again Duke evened the score with a kill from Becci Burling.
Senior Ashley Homitz, who stepped up with three big kills in the fifth set, notched her final kill of the night to give the Deacs a 16-15 advantage. Off of an Oehler serve, Burling tried to once again tie the match but her attack was blocked to the floor by McIntyre and White to give the Deacons a thrilling victory.
Wake will enjoy this win but must prepare for a pair of key ACC matches this weekend. NC State comes to town on Friday night and North Carolina visits on Saturday. Both teams have started the ACC play with perfect 2-0 records.
