Wake Forest University
East Carolina
Deacons Dominate On Opening Night
8/30/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Aug 30, 2013
Final Stats | Final Stats (PDF)
| Deacon Invitational Central
By Gary Petit, Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeVolleyball)
WINSTON-SALEM - The Wake Forest volleyball team rolled to a three-set victory over visiting East Carolina on the opening night of the Deacon Invitational in Reynolds Gym.
In front of an electric crowd, the Demon Deacons put on a show, hitting .346 as a team en route to taking the three sets 25-16, 25-14, 25-18.
"From a nerves standpoint on opening night, you never know what you're going to get," said head coach Ken Murczek. "As a first year coach, you never really know what you're going to get out of each player until you see them in a game and I think our players did very well tonight. I'm happy we got out of here in three sets tonight because tomorrow is going to be a grind."
Senior Kristin Grissom led the Deacons on the night with 12 kills, seven of which came in the second set. Fellow senior Kylie Hargreaves also had a solid night, finishing with 10 kills and 13 digs. Hargreaves hit an impressive .526 with zero errors in 19 attempts.
Sophomore middle blocker Matalee Reed had seven kills on the night to go along with her five digs. Freshman setter Sophia Dodd made her Demon Deacon debut Friday night and all she did was dish-out 34 assists, record six digs, notch three kills and two block assists.
East Carolina was led by Virginia Fitch and Nicole Willis who each had six kills.
Coach Murczek made immediate impact on the program upon his hiring in February and tonight was another step.
"We're trying to create a new volleyball atmosphere and tonight was evidence of that," he said. "We added the band, some signage and I thought the roof was going to blow off on our first kill. I think our players were a little shocked too. Most of them haven't played in something like this before and that's what we're trying to create."
The Deacs came out of the gate fast in the first set, taking a 14-7 advantage before ECU called timeout. The Pirates pulled to within four at 18-14 before Wake ended the set on a 7-2 to run to close it out 25-16. Reed had five kills and hit .571 in the opening set.
Reed then toed the service line to begin the second set and peeled-off five-straight points. A service ace by sophomore Megan Miller made the score 10-3 in favor of the Deacs and ECU took its first timeout of the set. Again, the Pirates closed the within four at 12-8 but another 7-1 Deacon run pushed the lead to 19-9 and Wake would then cruise home to a 25-14 victory. Grissom was a perfect 7-for-7 in attacks in the second set while Hargreaves added five kills and a service ace.
The third set remained close in the beginning but a 9-3 run by the Deacs, keyed by Dodd and fellow freshman Maggie Sinkler at the service line, put Wake in front 19-9. With the Deacons on the doorstep of closing out the match, up 24-13, ECU ran off three-straight points. Wake then took timeout and during the break, the fire alarm went off in Reynolds Gym. A 19-minute delay ensued to clear the building and then to allow the teams to return and warm-up.
After the restart, the Pirates scored two more points but a service error by Willis ended the match in the Deacs favor 25-18.
In the first match of the Deacon Invitational, UNC Greensboro took the first two sets from East Tennessee State but then had to hold on for a five-set victory. The Demon Deacons will take on ETSU at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday before hosting UNCG in the night-cap at 7:00 p.m.
