Wake Forest University
UNC Greensboro
Wake Forest Sweeps Deacon Invitational in Impressive Fashion
8/31/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Aug 31, 2013
ETSU Final Stats | ETSU Final Stats
| UNCG Final Stats | UNCG Final Stats | Tournament Central | 
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By Nick Sebesta, Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeVolleyball)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - After defeating East Carolina on Friday night, Wake Forest volleyball defeated ETSU 3-1 and UNCG 3-0 on Saturday, improving to 3-0 on the season.
Kristin Grissom earned the tournament MVP award while Kylie Hargreaves and Jazmen Russell were named to the All-Tournament team as well.
The Demon Deacons are undefeated under new head coach Ken Murczek. "The weekend was a challenge. Friday night we tried to create a little different atmosphere here," said Murczek. "The support we got from the community and the students was incredible. Then to turn around and play on Saturday against a team that went to the NCAA tournament was a great challenge."
Wake Forest defeated ETSU, an NCAA tournament team from a year ago by a score of 3-1. Russell had 10 kills while Grissom had nine. Ashlee Rusk added eight kills and seven block assists. Grissom and Matalee Reed each had five block assists.
The Deacs took the first set 25-22 and registered six total blocks in the set. Russell had three kills while Sofia Dodd had three block assists.
After going up 14-7 behind two straight service aces from Reed, ETSU began to narrow the gap, eventually tying the score at 22. Wake Forest responded with a 3-0 run to close the set out with two kills from Russell and one from Grissom.
ETSU controlled the action in the second set, winning 25-15. The Deacs came back in the third set to win 25-18 while closing the set out on a 16-3 run. After falling behind 15-9, the Demon Deacons rattled off nine-straight points before taking the set and going up 2-1 in the match.
In the fourth set, Wake Forrest dictated the pace early, going up 9-2 early. Using a 7-3 run, the Deacs pulled away from ETSU winning 25-21 and improving to a 2-0 record.
"I really liked how we battled this morning," said Murczek. "There was some adversity and at times it could have unraveled. But the girls did a great job persevering."
Megan Devine had a team-best 21 kills while Meredith Hardy and Ivey Rice each had 10 to lead the way offensively for the Buccaneers. Wake Forest then took on UNCG in the late match and swept the Spartans 3-0.
Grissom tallied 12 kills in the victory while Hargreaves added nine.
"We put ourselves in a position to win the tournament tonight and we started out on fire," said Murczek.
The Deacs went up early in the first set 10-5 until the Spartans closed the gap to 15-14 midway through. Wake Forest once again went on a strong 10-3 run to finish out the set as Russell registered a kill to give the Deacs a 25-18 win.
In the second set, Wake Forest led 9-2 out of the gate before UNCG stormed back with a 7-0 run of its own. Both teams battled close until Wake Forest pulled ahead at the end and won 25-20 off a kill from Grissom.
UNCG and Wake Forest battled early in the third with both teams knotted at seven following a kill from Olivia Humphries.
Later with the score tied at 13, Wake Forest gained three points off UNCG errors and edged out late to win 25-22 again off a Grissom kill.
Freshman Sophia Dodd had 36 assists in the match along with six digs. Megan Miller led the way on the defensive end with 13 digs.
Humphries had nine kills for the Spartans and Karrian Chambers had seven.
"First tournament, I'm excited. We're 3-0 and we can head with a head of steam to California," remarked Murczek.
Wake Forest heads to the Cal State Fullerton Classic next weekend in Fullerton, Calif. with a match against Gardner-Webb on Friday at 7:30 EST.
All-Tournament Team
Kristin Grissom - Wake Forest (MVP)
Kylie Hargreaves - Wake Forest
Jazmen Russell - Wake Forest
Olivia Humphries - UNCG
Kelsey Sidney - UNCG
Khadijah Wiley - ETSU
Shelby Beasley - ECU
