Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
Georgia Southern
Demon Deacons Fall In Five To Georgia Southern
9/11/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 11, 2009
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Wake Forest volleyball team held a 2-1 lead but a feisty Georgia Southern team fought back to take a 3-2 victory on the opening night of The Bash at the `Boro, hosted by Georgia Southern.
The Eagles improve to 5-3 with the victory (25-23, 24-26, 20-25, 25-18, 15-11) and the Deacons fall to 0-7. It was Wake's third loss in a five-set match this season.
Bethany Sanford posted a double-double, leading all attackers with 17 kills and collecting a match-high 19 digs. Setter Kate Van Dyke dished out 43 assists and had five kills while Cristin Haines had 16 digs and a pair of assists.
Sophomore Kadija Fornah led three Demon Deacons in double-figure kills with 14. Fellow sophomore Carlin Salmon and freshman Andrea Beck each chipped in with 11 kills while all three players also recorded three total blocks in the match.
Junior setter Kelsey Jones recorded her fourth double-double of the year, dishing out 43 assists and notching 11 digs. Senior Abby Miller tied Sanford with 19 digs on the night as junior Lauren McIntyre had nine kills and a team-high .353 hitting percentage.
Sophomore Cambrey Oehler also had a good match, totaling 13 digs, four kills and a season-high two service aces. Senior Sally Fischer made her third start of the season and notched a total of 11 digs on the evening.
GSU opened the match well, taking an 8-5 lead in the first set but the Deacons then went on a 10-4 run to swing the momentum in their favor. Trailing 15-12, the Eagles evened the score at 16-16 but Wake would regain a 20-18 advantage leading to a GSU timeout. The Eagles then finished the set on a 7-3 run to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
The Deacs came out fast in the second set, building a 7-3 lead thanks to a pair of kills and a block from Salmon. Wake would push the lead to five at 15-10 and eventually take an 18-11 advantage before GSU called timeout.
The Eagles would cut the lead to three at 23-20 and then two kills from Nelson and an error from Fornah would even the score at 23-23 forcing a Wake Forest timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, Salmon and Nelson traded kills and after an error by Van Dyke, McIntyre knocked home her fifth kill of the match to give the Deacs a 26-24 victory.
Salmon and McIntyre each had four kills in the set.
The break was what the Eagles needed as they came out in the third set and opened up a quick 10-6 lead, forcing a WFU timeout. The Deacs then went down 11-6 before a 5-0 run pulled them even at 11-11 and it was GSU's turn to take time.
Wake continued the run thanks for four-straight kills by Fornah and would take an 18-14 lead. The Eagles got as close as two on a couple of occasions by the Deacs closed on a 4-1 run to take the set 25-20.
Fornah finished with a total of seven kills in the set and the Deacons hit a season-high .419 as a team with 14 kills on just one error.
In the fourth, Georgia Southern took another early lead and would never relinquish it, eventually winning the set 25-18. Wake cut the lead to two at 10-8 but the Eagles went on a 13-6 run to take a commanding 23-14 lead. Despite a couple of kills from Beck and White, the Eagles finished off the set and would force the match to a deciding fifth game.
The teams traded sideouts early in the fifth-set and with the score tied at 6-6, a kill from Bethany Sanford and a bad set from Jones would give the Eagles an 8-6 lead at the change-over.
Wake would then go on a 4-2 run thanks to kills by Salmon, Jones, Fornah and Beck to even the score at 10-10. Sarah Gildersleeve and McIntyre then traded kills to make the score 11-11 but a pair of Demon Deacon errors would give Georgia Southern a 13-11 advantage, forcing a WFU timeout. The Eagles came out of the timeout and got a kill from Van Dyke a service ace from Claybaugh to close out the match 15-11.
Both teams struggled on the offensive side as Georgia Southern finished with a .161 hitting percentage and Wake finished at .160. The Eagles also led the battle at the net, blocking 13 attacks compared to just seven for the Deacs.
In the first match of the night, Auburn got a double-double from Katherine Culwell to cruise past Coastal Carolina 25-17, 26-24 and 25-20.
Wake will take on Auburn in the first match of the day on Saturday at 10 am and then will close the tournament with a match against Coastal Carolina at 5 pm.
