Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
8-12, 3-5ACC
Clemson
10-11, 1-7ACC
Wake Forest Volleyball Storms Back for 3-2 Win Over Clemson
10/14/2018 5:35:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
"We shifted the lineup which shifted our matchups," head coach Bill Ferguson said. "That's what made the difference for us later in the match. We were able to get Katie Moore up to block Brooke Bailey who really affected us in the first two sets. The other thing was our passers were able to settle down a little bit. The first two sets got away from them a little bit. They were passing efficiently so we were able to start involving Caitlyn Della and Olivia Saunders again in the later sets, which really opens up our entire offense."
Clemson took the first two sets 25-20 and 25-15 before the Deacons made some adjustments to hold the Tigers off. Wake had 16 kills in the third set, led by Caitlyn Della with five and Rassenfoss with four.
Both sides rallied back and forth in the third set, until the Deacons won five of six points to take an 18-15 lead. Clemson evened the frame at 24-24, but kills from Della and Madeline Holt sealed the 26-24 set three win as the Deacons cut the deficit to one.
The Deacs kept the momentum going with a match high 20 kills and .543 attack percentage in the fourth set. Rassenfoss collected six kills on 10 attempts for a .600 hitting percentage for the frame. Myca Mitchell and Olivia Saunders each added four kills with .500 and .429 respective hitting percentages. Wake's hitters all hit above .400 in the fourth set.Each side went on early 3-0 runs, but Wake Forest earned the momentum back taking an 11-7 lead and forcing the Tigers to burn a timeout in set four. The Deacs remained in front for the remainder of the set and Mitchell found the floor to even the match at 2-2, with a 25-21 decision in set four.
The thrilling five-setter was capped as the Deacons went on a 6-0 run in the middle of the frame to take a comfortable 10-6 lead. The Tigers clawed back to get within one, but senior middle blocker Katie Moore made her eighth kill of the game to seal the 3-2 comeback for the Deacs.Sophomore setter Madeline Holt recorded 54 of the team's 59 assists. Defensively, the Deacons posted 12 blocks and held Clemson to seven stops at the net. Della and Saunders led the way with six blocks each, while Holt added four.
Up next, the Deacons will host in-state rival Duke in a mid week matchup on Wednesday, Oct. 17 at 6:30 p.m.
"If you can't get pumped up to play your rival, then you don't have a pulse," Ferguson said. "You come to a school like Wake Forest to play these rivalry matches. We are all really excited for it."
