Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
Texas State
Volleyball Defeats Texas State 3-1 in Season Opener
8/29/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Final Stats | Final Stats (PDF)
By Josh Gresh, Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeVolleyball)
HOUSTON - The Wake Forest volleyball team battled to a four-set victory over reigning Sun Belt Conference champions Texas State on the opening day of the University of Houston Tournament at the Alumni Center.
The Demon Deacons (1-0) had a tough opponent in the Bobcats (1-1) as the team took the match after battling it out the final three sets. After taking the first set with ease, the Deacs were able to pull out the four-set thriller 25-16, 24-26, 25-20, 25-22.
"Great match today," said head coach Ken Murczek. "I liked how we came out taking it to them in the first set 25-16. The big focus this year has been our serving and our offense and I think in the first set we did those tremendously well. But first match of the season, there's going to be some errors and we made some in the third and fourth sets. But with the match 20-20 in the fourth set, we took it to them and I really like how we ended the match."
Senior Jazmen Russell led the Deacons on the night with 13 kills, four of which came in the first, second, and fourth sets. Junior Matalee Reed also had a solid night, finishing with nine kills and five digs. Freshman Caroline Wolf, who had 20 digs, and fellow freshman Kylie Long made their first-career starts for the Deacs and freshman Ciara Appelbaum had a solid match contributing with six kills.
Texas State was led by three players who had double-digit kills in Shelby Vas Matt (12), Keeley Davis (12), and Alexandra Simms (10).
"Obviously Texas State is a wonderful opponent to open up the season," he said. They were an NCAA tournament team last year and their RPI is actually higher than us at the moment."
The Deacs and Bobcats battled it out at the beginning of the first set, but the Deacs held a 12-7 advantage before Texas State called the first timeout. Wake Forest then went on an 8-4 run to take a 20-12 lead, forcing the Bobcats to call a second timeout. The Deacs then outscored Texas State 5-3 to close out the set. Russell had four kills in the opening set.
With the first set starting off tied 4-4, Wake Forest went on a 3-0 run capped off by senior Ashlee Rusk's kill to give the team a 7-4 advantage. The Bobcats answered with a point to bring it within two points. Both teams traded points all the way to the end of the set. With the match tied a 22-22, an attack error and a service ace by Reed gave the Deacs a 24-22 lead forcing Texas State to call a timeout. Texas State answered with four straight points to take the second set 26-24.
The third set remained close in the beginning but after trailing 7-5 early, the Deacs used a 5-0 run to retake the lead 11-7. The Bobcats responded with a 3-0 run to cut Wake's lead to 11-10, and Appelbaum answered with a kill to end the run and make the score 12-10. After the Demon Deacons took a 14-12 lead, a 3-0 run capped off by a Alexandria Simms kill gave the Bobcats a 15-14 lead.
Rusk then led the charge with a kill to start off a Wake Forest 3-0 run to give the Deacs a 17-15 lead. The Bobcats then outscored Wake Forest 5-1, forcing the Deacs to take a timeout. The break paid off as the Demon Deacons used a 7-0 run to propel the team to a third set victory. Rusk started the set off with a kill and the Deacs made a 3-0 run to take a 21-20 lead. After a timeout by Texas State, a Bobcat net error, ace by senior setter Danae Rosendall, a kill by Reed, and a block assist by Reed and Long, lead the Deacs to a 2-1 lead and a 25-20 third set win.
Texas State got off to a strong start to begin the fourth set with a 7-4 lead which ended with a kill by Lauren Kirsh. Russell had two kills mounting a Wake Forest 10-2 run to give the Deacs a 14-9 lead. Texas state responded with two kills and a block assist to bring the match within two at 14-12. After trading points for most of the set, the Deacs took a timeout as they trailed 21-20. Wake Forest went on a 5-1 run to close out the match. Reed ended it with an emphatic kill to earn the Deacs the 3-1 victory.
In the first match of the University of Houston Tournament, Texas State needed all five sets to defeat Lamar 3-2. The Demon Deacons will take on Lamar at 2 p.m. (EST) on Saturday before facing the host University of Houston in the night-cap at 6 p.m. (EST).
