Wake Forest University
Houston
Wake Forest Splits Day Two at Houston Tournament
8/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Wake Forest will head back home to host the Deacon Invitational after taking two of three at the University of Houston Tournament. "We had a great tournament," said head coach Ken Murczek. "We just put ourselves into bad situations where we couldn't recover. We learned a lot this weekend and we have a lot to work on this week going into our tournament next weekend."
Senior Jazmen Russell, who was named most valuable player for the tournament, had 36 kills over the two matches to lead the Deacs. Fellow senior Ashlee Rusk, who was also named to the All-Tournament team, added 18 kills and eight block assists over the two matches. Freshman Caroline Wolf was Wake Forest's third All-Tournament selection, while junior Matalee Reed added 14 kills and six block assists to a solid tournament outing.
Wake Forest 3, Lamar 0
Wake Forest defeated Lamar by a score of 3-1 in the first match of the day. Russell had a match-high 13 kills while Reed had seven and Danae Rosendall added six. Ashlee Rusk added five kills and five block assists. Rosendall added two block assists.
Lamar was led by Chelsea Grant who had 11 kills and four block assists. Autumn Taylor added 12 kills and one block assist.
The Deacs took the first set in a tight battle 26-24. Rosendall led the way as she had four kills while freshman Kylie Long had one block solo and one block assist.
Trailing most of the set it wasn't until a timeout trailing 20-17 sparked a Demon Deacon rally as they went on a 8-4 run to take the first set. A kill from Rosendall and service ace from freshman Ciara Appelbaum cut Lamar's lead to 20-19, forcing the Cardinals to take a timeout. The Deacs scored two more points but Lamar put the Deacs on the brink with three straight points and a 24-22 lead.
Out of a Wake Forest timeout, the Deacs mounted four straight points to close out the match. Reed and Russell had back-to-back kills to tie the match 24-24. Then, after a service error from Lamar, Long killed the set with a spike from center net to give the Deacs a 1-0 lead.
Lamar would test the Deacs again in game two. After a quick 4-0 start for Wake Forest, Lamar would go on a 12-4 run to take a 12-8 lead. Both teams traded points back and forth and Murczek called a timeout with Lamar leading 19-17 late in the set. Russell would heat up after the break reeling off four kills during Wake Forest's 8-4 run to end the set. The Deacs led 2-0 (26-24, 26-24) heading into the final set.
In the final set, Wake Forest would take an early 9-5 lead to start before Lamar would make the match close again cutting the Deacs' lead to 15-14. Using a 7-3 run, the Demon Deacons made the match 22-17 looking to close out the match. Undaunted, the Cardinals clawed their way back into the match making the score 24-21. With match point, Reed had a kill to close out a match for the second straight day as the Deacs took a 3-0 (26-24, 26-24, 25-21) victory.
Houston 3, Wake Forest 2
In the first set, the Deacs showed a dominating team performance as they won 25-18. Despite a late run by the Cougars in the end, Wake Forest showed a dominant display. Long let the way with three kills while Appelbaum added two kills of her own.
Houston responded with a dominating performance of their own in the second set with a 25-16 win to tie up the match 1-1. It was close at the beginning with the match being as close as 9-7. The Cougars began a push that saw them take a 12-8 lead that forced Murczek to call timeout. Houston poured on the points using a 13-8 run to win the second set 25-16. Reed led the way for the Deacs as she had 3.5 points on two kills and a block assist.
The Cougars and Demon Deacons continued the early set trend of trading points in the third set. The Deacs held a one point advantage for most of the start. Houston would take its first lead 15-13 after a kill by Kadi Kullerkann, which prompted Murczek to take a timeout. The host used a 6-4 run to extend their lead and take a 21-17 advantage. The Deacs fought hard and outscored the Cougars 6-4 at the end of the set, but it wasn't enough as Houston took a 2-1 lead. Russell had eight kills in the set and Rusk added five.
The third set was vital for Wake Forest and they stepped up to the challenge winning the set 25-22 in a nail biter. The Cougars got off to a hot start taking an 8-3 lead. But an 11-5 run by the Deacs gave the team a 14-8 lead. A tight battle waged on between to two sides with the score late in the match 20-19 in favor for Wake Forest. Russell continued her fantastic performance as an emphatic kill and block assist gave the Deacs a 23-20 advantage, and Long closed out the set with a kill to send the match to a fifth set.
The fifth set started off tied 3-3 as the two teams couldn't find much separation. Houston then outscored the Demon Deacons 6-2 to make it a four-point match. A kill by Rusk brought the match within three again with a kill but Kullerkann's kill made the match 10-6. The rest of the set was a back-and-forth affair but the Deacs were outscored 5-4 and couldn't make a comeback as Houston defeated the Deacs 15-11 in the set.
Russell had a team-high 23 kills and Rusk also was in double-digits with 13 kills of her own. Long also had a solid performance with eight kills. Kullerkann led the way for Houston as she had a match-high 24 kills.
Wake Forest heads back home to host the Deacon Invitation next weekend. The tournament will feature Davidson College, North Carolina Central, Presbyterian College, and Wofford College at Reynolds Gym. In the next match, the Demon Deacons will face North Carolina Central on Friday September 5, at 3:00 p.m. EST.
All-Tournament Team
MVP: Jazmen Russell - Wake Forest
Kadi Kullerkann - Houston
Shelby VasMatt - Texas State
Lauren Kirch - Texas State
Courtney Moore - Lamar
Cortney Warren - Houston
Caroline Wolf - Wake Forest
Ashlee Rusk - Wake Forest
