Wake Forest University
College of Charleston
Wake Forest Edged by the Cougars, 3-2
9/12/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Final Stats | Final Stats (PDF)
By Josh Gresh, Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeVolleyball)
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Cara Howley tied a match-high 26 kills for the Cougars as the Wake Forest volleyball team fell in five sets to the College of Charleston 3-2 on Friday night on the first day of the College of Charleston Classic. The hosts used multiple comebacks in each set to earn the victory over the Demon Deacons.
Jazmen Russell led the way for the Deacs (6-2) as she recorded a match-high 26 kills and blocks. In addition to Russell, Kylie Long tallied a double-double with 17 kills and 15 digs and two blocks. Matalee Reed was the third Wake Forest player to record double-digit kills as she notched 10 kills and also added two blocks.
In addition to Howley for the Cougars (5-4), Melissa Morello added 18 kills, 12 digs and two blocks. Maddie Hills was the third player with double-digit kills for the College of Charleston with 11 for the match.
In the first set, it was tight for the first few points and both teams kept it within two points until the score reached 14-12. Wake Forest went on a 5-1 run to gain its largest lead of the set at 19-13. The Cougars would take their first lead of the set using a 8-1 run to take a 21-20 lead forcing head coach Ken Murczek to call a timeout.
The battle would begin as the both teams continued to trade points and keep it close. The set was extended and the last time the teams would be tied would be at 29-29. College of Charleston closed out the set as two errors by the Deacs would give the Cougars a 1-0 lead. Rusk led the way for Wake Forest in the set with five kills.
Megan Miller got the second set off with a bang as she nailed a service ace to score Wake Forest's first point. A kill from Kylie Long would make the set at 3-1 in favor of the Deacs. A couple of attack errors from College of Charleston gave the Deacs an 8-4 lead forcing Jason Kepner to call for a timeout.
The Cougars make it close again going on a 5-1 run to tie up the set at 9-9. With the set tied 11-11, a kill from Long and three straight attack errors from the Cougars forced the home side to call another timeout. The Demon Deacons created their largest cushion of the set with a 24-18 lead, but again let the Cougars come back with a 6-0 run to tie it at 24 apiece.
Unlike the first set, Wake Forest would be the ones to come out victorious after an extended set as Russell's kill sealed a 29-27 set win to tie the match at 1-1 with the Cougars.
The Deacs would begin the third set with a 5-0 run capped off by a service ace from Sam Boesch. College of Charleston then made a 7-1 run to retake the lead 7-6. Russell would then execute two consecutive kills to give Wake Forest an 8-7 lead.
The Demon Deacons would continue to hold a one-point margin but the Cougars would retake the lead 15-14 forcing a timeout from the Deacs. Wake Forest would then hold a three point lead 20-17 and Murczek called a timeout knowing how the previous sets had gone before. Despite the Cougars tying up the set 21-21 with a 4-1 run, Wake Forest closed out the set with a kill from Russell and a 25-23 set victory gave the Deacs a 2-1 advantage heading to the fourth set.
College of Charleston would respond with a 25-21 fourth set victory that would send the match into a fifth set. Morello's kill at the end of the set would give the Cougars the win to take the match into a 15 point-fifth set.
The final set would be exciting from start to finish. Russell started the set off with a kill to give the Deacs a 1-0 lead. A kill from Morello and an error by Wake Forest gave the Cougars a 2-1 lead. The next time the Demon Deacons would retake the lead was 4-3 after an error by the host. The teams would trade the lead a couple more times and Deacs called the first timeout with the set tied 10-10.
Out of the timeout, Russell had a thunderous kill that gave the Deacs a 11-10 lead. A kill from Howley and an attack error from Wake Forest gave the lead back to the Cougars 12-11. Both teams traded points and with the set going to match point 14-13, Murczek called one last timeout to get a comeback out of the Demon Deacons. Wake Forest was unable to mount a comeback out of the timeout as Morello's kill sealed the victory for the host 3-2.
The Demon Deacons return to action tomorrow for day two of the College of Charleston Classic as they face Cal State Fullerton at 11 a.m., followed by Stetson at 5 p.m.
