Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
Miami
Fornah and Thornberry Have Career Nights But Wake Falls To Miami 3-1
11/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 6, 2009
Box Score | Box Score in PDF Format 
CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Despite career nights from Wake Forest's Kadija Fornah and Megan Thornberry, Miami used a big run in the second set to seize the momentum and take a 3-1 victory over the Demon Deacons Friday night in Coral Gables, Fla.
Miami improves to 15-9 on the year and 8-6 in the ACC while the Deacons fall to 9-16 and 7-7 in the conference.
Wake hit a season-best .517 in the first set and took a 1-0 lead after a 25-15 victory. The Deacs then looked to be in control of set two as they had a set-point up 24-20 but the Hurricanes scored the final six points of the set to steal a 26-24 victory. The hosts then held the momentum and finished off the match with victories of 25-23 and 25-17.
Both teams hit extremely well as Miami finished the match with a .295 hitting percentage and the Deacons were not far behind at .291.
Wake Forest sophomore Kadija Fornah had eight kills in the first set and finished the night with a career-high 22 while hitting a stellar .400. Fornah eclipsed her previous career-best of 17 kills, which she set earlier this season against Furman. The West Palm Beach, Fla., native also recorded a career-high two block solos on the night.
Defensively, junior libero Megan Thornberry collected a career-high and match-high 32 digs to lead the Deacs. Her previous career-best was 30 digs against Georgia Tech almost one year ago to the day.
Miami had four different players recorded double-digit kills, led by Lane Carico's 18. Carico also completed the double-double, notching 21 digs. Ali Becker finished the night with 15 kills and just one error while Christine Williamson also added 15 kills and Lici McGee added 10. Nrithya Sundararaman dished-out 57 assists and collected seven digs for the `Canes while libero Cassie Loessberg recorded 21 digs and two service aces.
In addition to Fornah, freshman Andrea Beck finished the evening with 10 kills and no errors for a .400 hitting percentage. She also notched a team-high four blocks. Over the last three matches, Beck has recorded 36 kills and just four errors for a dazzling .500 hitting percentage.
Setter Kelsey Jones recorded her 10th double-double of the season on Friday, dishing out 50 assists to go along with 11 digs, four kills and three blocks. Senior Abby Miller also recorded 11 digs while junior Kristen White chipped in with 10.
Junior Lauren McIntyre and sophomore Carlin Salmon each had nine kills in the match for the Deacons while Salmon also added two blocks.
Wake out-blocked Miami 8-6 and also had more digs, 77-72, but the hosts held the edge in kills 68-61.
The Deacons could not have gotten off to a better start as Fornah's five kills led Wake to an early 13-2 lead. Beck also had a pair of blocks in the run. Miami got as close as seven at 17-10 but another kill and a block by Fornah pushed the lead right back to nine at 20-11.
Fornah's eighth kill of the opening set gave the Deacs a 21-12 lead and after kills from Beck, McIntyre and Salmon, Wake would win the set 25-15. Fornah hit a remarkable .667 with no errors on 12 attacks while the Deacons hit a season-best .517 with 16 kills and just one error. Thornberry also finished with seven digs for the Deacs in the opening frame, helping to hold the hosts to a .071 hitting percentage.
Salmon opened the second set with back-to-back kills and after three-straight kills from Fornah, the Deacons had taken an early 6-4 lead. Wake then kept the peddle to the metal with a pair of kills each from Jones and Beck mixed in with a service ace by Thornberry and yet another kill from Fornah to push the lead to 12-4.
Miami made a bit of a surge but a kill from Beck and an ace from Cambrey Oehler halted the `Canes momentum and forced the hosts to call their second timeout trailing 16-7. The break was what Miami needed as kills from McGee and Mayhew cut the deficit to six at 16-10 and after McGee collected her second kill of the set, the `Canes had pulled to within five at 18-13.
The run continued as kills from Becker and Maria Anderson gave Miami a 9-3 run which saw the Wake led trimmed to just three at 19-16. But like they had early on, the Deacs turned to Fornah, who responded with two-straight kills to halt the run. With Wake Forest up 21-16, the teams would trade sideouts up until the Deacs took a set-point at 24-20. But Miami then took total control, scoring the final six points to pull-off the comeback and win the set 26-24.
After it was all said and done, the Hurricanes finished the set on a 19-8 run and would even the match at 1-1 heading into the break. Carico, McGee and Williamson all had four kills in the set for Miami while Beck and Fornah each had six kills for Wake.
Miami kept the momentum coming out of the locker room as it took an early 7-4 lead in the third but thanks to a pair of kills from Salmon along with a block assist from Salmon and White, the Deacs would even the score at 12-12. The teams then traded points until a service ace from Miller and another kill from Salmon broke a 15-15 tie and gave Wake a 17-15 lead.
The Hurricanes then responded with 3-0 run thanks to kills from McGee, Williamson and Carico to retake an 18-17 lead. Wake then got a kill by Salmon followed by a pair of kills from Fornah to snatch the lead right back at 21-20. The see-saw battle continued as a kill from Miami's Becker and an error by the Deacs gave the hosts a 23-22 advantage, forcing a Wake Forest timeout.
A kill by Anderson gave the `Canes a set-point at 24-22 and despite a kill from Beck, the Deacons couldn't complete the comeback as a kill from McGee ended the set 25-23 in favor of Miami. Carico had six kills in the frame while Fornah's five kills gave her 19 for the match, which was already a career-best. Wake hit a solid .357 in the set as Thornberry collected a total of eight digs.
The momentum seemed to stay with the `Canes as they raced out to a 5-1 lead in the fourth. Wake climbed back to within two thanks to a kill from McIntyre and a service ace from Beck but Miami pushed the lead right back to four at 12-8. The margin stayed close until a 4-0 Hurricane run gave the hosts a commanding 20-13 lead. The `Canes would then salt away the rest of the set and win the match 25-17.
The win for Miami sweeps the season series between the two teams as the Hurricanes also won 3-1 in Winston-Salem on Oct. 8. That was a turn around from last season as the Deacons had swept the season series.
The road trip does not get any easier as the Deacons head to Tallahassee, Fla., on Sunday for a 1 pm match against 16th-ranked Florida State. The Seminoles took a two-match lead in the conference with a thrilling five-set victory over Duke on Friday night.
