Wake Forest Athletics
Deacons Look To Continue Streak
10/7/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 7, 2009
Wake Forest Volleyball Weekly Notes 
The Wake Forest volleyball team will look to extend its six-match win streak this week as it welcomes Miami and No. 19 Florida State to town for a pair of key ACC tilts.
Wake is 6-10 overall and has started ACC play with a 4-1 record. That mark puts them in a tie with Florida State and Georgia Tech for second in the ACC, just one match behind Duke at 5-0.
Over the current six-match win streak, setter Kelsey Jones has run the offense beautifully and is averaging 11.35 assists per set. Junior Lauren McIntyre and sophomores Carlin Salmon and Kadija Fornah have all fed off of Jones' good play and are leading the team offensively.
McIntyre has hit over .400 in each of her last three matches and hit over .700 in the wins over Maryland and Virginia Tech. Salmon had a total of 29 kills with a .414 hitting percentage and averaged 1.62 blocks per set in the two wins last week. Fornah was close behind her at 3.12 kills per set last week and hit a solid .250 from the outside.
Of course, the offense feeds off the play of the back row and junior libero Megan Thornberry and senior Abby Miller have both been instrumental this season. Since returning from injury, Thornberry is averaging 4.71 digs per set with a total of 80 digs while Miller is averaging 3.52 digs per set on the year. Miller is also tied for second on the team with eight service aces.
As a team, the Deacs are third in the conference at 15.23 digs per set and are eighth in opponent hitting percentage at .204.
Wake will look for its first seven-match win streak since 2001 when it takes on Miami on Thursday. The Hurricanes come into Winston-Salem this week with a 9-6 overall record and a 2-3 mark in the conference. UM got off to a 7-2 start before dropping four of its next six matches.
Last week, the `Canes won the first two sets against Clemson but then the Tigers rallied to win three-straight to down Miami 3-2. In the match, sophomore Lane Carico established a new school record for kills in a match with 36 but the Hurricane defense was its shortcoming, allowing to Tigers to hit over .250 in the each of the final three sets with just nine combined errors.
UM then rebounded with a hard-fought five-set victory at home over Georgia Tech on Sunday. The Yellow Jackets had just knocked-off No. 18 Florida State on Friday night and we riding high coming into Coral Gables. But once again, Carico led the team with 30 kills.
For her efforts, Carico was named the ACC Player of the Week after totaling totaled 66 kills for a 6.60 kills per set average, a .303 hitting percentage, 33 digs, one service ace, and two total blocks. She leads the conference in both kills (243) and kills per set (4.19) while her 36 kills against Clemson and 30 against Georgia Tech are the top-two performances in the ACC this season, and her 83 attacks against Clemson and 72 against Georgia Tech are also the two best marks in the league.
UM leads the all-time series with Wake Forest 5-4 but the Deacons swept both matches last season. The teams have a matching 2-2 record in matches played in Reynolds Gym.
Florida State will be the first ranked team Wake has faced since the 2007 season. The Deacs are 0-5 in their last five matches against ranked opponents with their last victory coming in 2004 when Wake swept No. 24 Purdue in three sets at the Tennessee Invitational.
The Seminoles lead the ACC in hitting percentage (.291), kills (13.67), assists (12.67) and are second in blocks (2.56). One of the main reasons for the Seminoles' strong start has been the play of middle blocker Brianna Barry. Barry leads the ACC and is third in the nation with a .522 hitting percentage and is averaging 2.74 kills per set with just 23 errors in 255 attempts.
FSU touts a 13-2 overall record and a 4-1 mark in the conference. The team's first loss came at No. 5 Florida in a thrilling five-set match but it bounced back five days later to drop No. 8 Illinois in three sets. The `Noles only ACC set-back came at home last week in five sets to Georgia Tech. Other than the two losses, FSU has dropped just seven sets in its 13 victories.
Florida State has dominated the all-time series with Wake, holding a 21-6 advantage. The Seminoles have also won the last seven meetings in the series with the last Wake win coming in Winston-Salem on Oct. 21, 2005.
Live scoring of both matches this week will be available via CSTV's Gametracker.
