Wake Forest Athletics
Deacons Make First ACC Road Trip This Weekend
9/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 23, 2009
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest volleyball team will dive right into ACC action this weekend as it hits the road for matches against Boston College and Maryland. The Deacons will face BC on Thursday evening at 7 pm before traveling to College Park, Md., on Saturday for a 7 pm tilt against Terrapins.
Wake comes into the weekend on a modest two-match win streak after dropping the first ten matches of the season. The Deacs will look to ride the momentum from three-set victories over Appalachian State and Liberty on the final day of the Black & Gold Challenge last Saturday.
Sophomore outside hitter Kadija Fornah leads the team with 94 kills and averaging a team-high 2.54 kills per set. She has really come on over the last two weeks, earning All-Tournament Team honors at the Bash at the `Boro and leading the team this past weekend with 31 kills. Over the last six matches, the West Palm Beach, Fla, native has notched a total of 64 kills, has a solid .310 hitting percentage and has amassed a total of 38 digs and 12 blocks.
Freshman Andrea Beck has had a fine start to her career thus far. She's started 11 of the 12 matches and tops the team with 115.5 points. Her 91 kills and 37 total blocks are both second on the team while her .237 hitting percentage is tops on the squad.
With the early season injury to junior libero Megan Thornberry, senior Abby Miller was forced to step-up and play a larger roll in the back row. She has done just that, recording double-digit digs in all but one match, including three matches of 20 or more. Miller is currently seventh in the ACC with 3.93 digs per pet and dating back to last season, the Lexington, N.C., native has notched double-digit digs in 13-of-14 matches is averaging 4.09 digs per set over that stretch.
Sophomore Carlin Salmon is one of two Demon Deacons to have played in all 45 sets so far and tops the team with a total of 39 blocks, including seven block solos.
Junior setter Kelsey Jones had off-season hip surgery and has been working her way back to 100 percent. She is averaging 8.91 digs per set and has collected a total of 85 digs.
Wake had a great tournament last week passing the ball and hopes to build on that this week. As a team, the Deacs are second in the ACC with 14.98 digs per set.
Boston College comes into Thursday's match having its 10-match win streak snapped by Maryland on Tuesday. The Eagles opened the season with a loss and then won 10-straight to stand at 10-2 overall.
Sophomore Mollie Kolosky tops the team with 175 kills for an average of 3.57 kills per set and is hitting a blistering .386. Her hitting percentage and kills per set both rank second in the ACC. Senior outside hitter Taylor Williams is second on the team averaging 2.57 kills per set with 126 total kills.
After the 3-1 victory over BC, Maryland currently 9-5 on the season and 1-0 in the ACC. The Terps finished non-conference play with an 8-5 record, including tournament victories the last two weekends at the Georgetown Classic and Spring Hill Suites at Arundel Mills Terrapin Invitational.
Senior middle blocker Katie Usher has led Maryland the last two weekends, giving the Terps a strong hitting, blocking and serving presence. Usher is hitting a team-best .360 with 46 blocks and 11 aces. Usher's .360 hitting percentage ranks sixth in the ACC.
Also among the ACC leaders for the Terps is freshman libero Sam Rosario. The most valuable player of last weekend's tournament, Rosario is the conference leader in service aces with 32, 12 more than anyone else in the league. Rosario also ranks fourth in the ACC in digs, with an average of 4.20 per set.
Wake Forest and Boston College have met just seven times previously on the volleyball court with the Deacs holding a 5-2 advantage. Wake won the first three meetings in the series and then since then, the home team has held serve, including in last season's only meeting when Wake down the Eagles in three sets.
This will be the 35th meeting all-time between the Deacons and Terrapins. UM holds a 21-13 advantage but Wake has won five out of the last six. In the teams' only meeting last season, Wake got 11 kills from Natalie Mullikin and 15 digs from Megan Thornberry to roll past Maryland in three sets. The last meeting in College Park was on Oct. 26, 2007, as the Terps defended their home court with a 3-0 victory.
Live scoring of both matches this weekend will be available through CSTV's Gametracker.
