Wake Forest Athletics
From the Quad
11/11/2021 4:41:00 PM | General
Presented by Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist
Good Afternoon Demon Deacon Nation!
Let's start a very full #FTQ with a Veteran's Day salute for the bravery and sacrifice of the women and men who have protected our freedoms as members of the United States Armed Forces. Wake Forest held a beautiful ceremony this morning recognizing all veterans. We are grateful for our many Old Gold & Black heroes, including Wake Forest ROTC leader LTC Lawrence Rubal and of course we are proud that the home of Demon Deacon basketball bears the name of the late Winston-Salem native and Medal of Honor recipient Lawrence Joel. And, earlier this fall our football team had a once-in-a-lifetime experience to stand alongside cadets at Army postgame.
As all Wake Forest history majors know, Veterans Day had its start as "Armistice Day" marking the cessation of World War I at the 11th minute, 11th hour, 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. And speaking of history, just eight years earlier Wake Forest and NC State played the first of 114 football games and on Saturday we will welcome the Wolfpack to Truist Field for the 115th edition of what is now the second longest continuously played rivalry in the country!
With the No. 12 ranked Deacons holding a half-game advantage over the No. 16 Wolfpack in the race for the ACC Atlantic Division title, Saturday's Big Four matchup may be the most important in the long history of the series. ACC Network's live studio show "The Huddle" will be broadcasting from inside Truist Field throughout the day on Saturday and viewers across the nation will see an electric sold-out atmosphere on ACCN's primetime 7:30 p.m. broadcast. If you don't have your ticket yet, I advise that you pause reading, click here, and grab one of the 300 tickets remaining for Saturday's game now! Remember to arrive early and wear black!
We will get back to football in a moment, but we have a lot more news to share including five more opportunities to cheer on the Deacs here in Winston-Salem over the next three days.
Coach da Luz & Women's Soccer Back in the Big Dance Sunday at Spry!
Our No. 25 ranked women's soccer team will host Harvard to open NCAA tournament play on Sunday, Nov. 14 at 1 p.m. It was awesome to see the joy on our student-athletes faces on Monday afternoon as they watched the live NCAA selection show together. Coming off a thrilling upset of No. 6 Duke in the ACC Tournament, Coach Tony da Luz has led his squad back to the NCAA tournament for the 21st appearance in his 25th year at Wake Forest.
Friday Doubleheader at LJVM Coliseum Tips at 4 p.m. for Women's and Men's Basketball
I was thrilled to see Coach Jen Hoover and her squad earn a big road win to open the season on Tuesday, while Coach Steve Forbes and his new-look Demon Deacons captured a victory on Opening Night, racing out to a 46-18 first half lead with an excited crowd witnessing our revamped roster make huge dunks and stifling defensive plays inside Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The fun continues tomorrow with both hoops programs hosting a doubleheader inside the Joel beginning at 4 p.m. Tickets for the women's game against Cornell can be purchased here and seats are still available for the men's game against Western Carolina at 7:30 p.m. Fans who purchase a ticket to either contest can attend the other for FREE!
And as an added treat, between the two basketball games fans can experience Wake Forest's traditional night-before-home-football-game fireworks right outside LJVM Coliseum!
Volleyball Hosts UVA Friday Night, Women's Basketball Home Sunday Too
November is the month when our extremely hard-working operations staff clones itself to support our overlapping fall and winter sports. Admission is free as Coach Randi Smart's volleyball team looks for a season sweep over Virginia at 7 p.m. inside Varsity Arena!
Additionally on Sunday, our women's basketball team hits the hardwood for a matchup with UNCG at 1 p.m. inside Joel Coliseum. Tickets can be purchased here and the contest will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.
Meanwhile, our nationally ranked cross country programs will compete tomorrow morning at the NCAA Southeast Region Championships. We'll be watching the NCAA selection show at 5 p.m. on Saturday on NCAA.com to see if our men or women have qualified for the national meet!
Championship-Implication Big Game Atmosphere Awaits on Saturday Night at Truist Field
There is a true buzz around Winston-Salem ahead of this game. After the amazing sellout crowd and record student turnout two weeks ago for our game against Duke, we are looking for Demon Deacon Nation to bring that same energy on Saturday.
Saturday's 7:30 p.m. kickoff against the Wolfpack will serve as our football Senior Day as well! I look forward to Wake Forest honoring senior student-athletes, band members, cheerleader and spirit squad members and our football staff student members before the game.
Please arrive at Truist Field early on Saturday. With a capacity crowd expected, Wake Forest Athletics will open all stadium parking and tailgate lots at noon and we encourage all fans to allow for extra time to park, enter and get to their seats before the game. We'll also open up the free DEACTOWN Fan Zone presented by Forsyth County Farm Bureau Insurance early, at 3 p.m. with live music, food, and games for all ages.
Prior to Saturday's football game, Wake Forest will honor Robert Grant and Kenneth "Butch" Henry at the inaugural Trailblazer Award Ceremony! Bob and Butch were the first Black football student-athletes to enroll at a Division I institution in the South, joining the Wake Forest family in the fall of 1964. Being the first two Black football players at Wake Forest took tremendous courage and the support of teammates, the coaching staff, our University leadership and the Winston-Salem community. They were transformational leaders of character with the fortitude to persevere and blaze trails for future student-athletes of color at Wake Forest.
For the first time ever, Wake Forest Athletics will welcome ACCN's The Huddle for live pregame and postgame shows and broadcasts throughout the day! The ACC Network does an outstanding job sharing student-athlete stories from this incredible league and our University community is excited to host The Huddle this weekend! Coach Dave Clawson and Bob Grant will appear live on the pregame show between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. The Huddle set will be located above Deacon Hill near the Seven Saturdays Bar, Presented by R&D Brewing, underneath the Bob McCreary Video Board Honoring the Class of 1961.
Read Inspiring Letters & News "From Wente's Desk"
Our Wake Forest University President, Dr. Susan R. Wente, has done a terrific job building relationships across so many constituencies of our University community. She and her husband, Dr Chris Hardy, are regular attendees at Demon Deacon athletics contests and another one of the many ways she is connecting with Demon Deacon Nation is through From Wente's Desk.
Her recent message about "Leading with Trust, Transparency and Teamwork" especially resonated with me and absolutely reinforces our mindset of working together to provide a World Class Experience for all students. You can find President Wente's archive of newsletters here. Join me in following her on Twitter and Instagram for unique Wake Forest content.
Congrats! Demon Deacons Earn Plethora of Conference & National Awards
While much attention has been paid to our student-athletes on the football field with QB Sam Hartman being named a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award and Davey O'Brien Award and kicker Nick Sciba becoming a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award, Wake Forest has had many student-athletes earn recognition for their efforts over the fall season!
Women's soccer senior forward Shayla Smart and freshman midfielder Nikayla Small were named to the 2021 All-Atlantic Coast Conference Soccer team, men's soccer had four student-athletes (Kyle Holcomb, Nico Benalcazar, Omar Hernandez, Jake Swallen) earn All-ACC accolades, cross country runners Zach Facioni and Aaron Las Heras earned All-ACC honors and field hockey midfielders Meike Lanckohr and Nat Friedman earned All-Conference accolades as well.
And on the links Rachel Kuehn was named the ACC's Co-Women's Golfer of the Month for the month of October as she led the Deacs with a 70.75 stroke average over 12 rounds of fall play.
Welcome to Wake Forest! Seven New Demon Deacons Announced on Wednesday
Wake Forest men's golf, women's golf, volleyball, women's soccer, men's soccer, women's basketball, men's basketball and track & field all announced signees as a part of the fall semester national signing day! Stay tuned to GoDeacs.com as all our sports social media accounts will continue to share more signing day news.
From the Quad Big 3
Here are today's Big 3 ways to help the Deacs:
With our first back-to-back home sellouts since 2006 it's a great time to be a Deacon! Have fun, cheer loud, and...
Go Deacs!
John Currie
Director of Athletics
Good Afternoon Demon Deacon Nation!
Let's start a very full #FTQ with a Veteran's Day salute for the bravery and sacrifice of the women and men who have protected our freedoms as members of the United States Armed Forces. Wake Forest held a beautiful ceremony this morning recognizing all veterans. We are grateful for our many Old Gold & Black heroes, including Wake Forest ROTC leader LTC Lawrence Rubal and of course we are proud that the home of Demon Deacon basketball bears the name of the late Winston-Salem native and Medal of Honor recipient Lawrence Joel. And, earlier this fall our football team had a once-in-a-lifetime experience to stand alongside cadets at Army postgame.
As all Wake Forest history majors know, Veterans Day had its start as "Armistice Day" marking the cessation of World War I at the 11th minute, 11th hour, 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. And speaking of history, just eight years earlier Wake Forest and NC State played the first of 114 football games and on Saturday we will welcome the Wolfpack to Truist Field for the 115th edition of what is now the second longest continuously played rivalry in the country!
With the No. 12 ranked Deacons holding a half-game advantage over the No. 16 Wolfpack in the race for the ACC Atlantic Division title, Saturday's Big Four matchup may be the most important in the long history of the series. ACC Network's live studio show "The Huddle" will be broadcasting from inside Truist Field throughout the day on Saturday and viewers across the nation will see an electric sold-out atmosphere on ACCN's primetime 7:30 p.m. broadcast. If you don't have your ticket yet, I advise that you pause reading, click here, and grab one of the 300 tickets remaining for Saturday's game now! Remember to arrive early and wear black!
We will get back to football in a moment, but we have a lot more news to share including five more opportunities to cheer on the Deacs here in Winston-Salem over the next three days.
Coach da Luz & Women's Soccer Back in the Big Dance Sunday at Spry!
Our No. 25 ranked women's soccer team will host Harvard to open NCAA tournament play on Sunday, Nov. 14 at 1 p.m. It was awesome to see the joy on our student-athletes faces on Monday afternoon as they watched the live NCAA selection show together. Coming off a thrilling upset of No. 6 Duke in the ACC Tournament, Coach Tony da Luz has led his squad back to the NCAA tournament for the 21st appearance in his 25th year at Wake Forest.
Friday Doubleheader at LJVM Coliseum Tips at 4 p.m. for Women's and Men's Basketball
I was thrilled to see Coach Jen Hoover and her squad earn a big road win to open the season on Tuesday, while Coach Steve Forbes and his new-look Demon Deacons captured a victory on Opening Night, racing out to a 46-18 first half lead with an excited crowd witnessing our revamped roster make huge dunks and stifling defensive plays inside Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The fun continues tomorrow with both hoops programs hosting a doubleheader inside the Joel beginning at 4 p.m. Tickets for the women's game against Cornell can be purchased here and seats are still available for the men's game against Western Carolina at 7:30 p.m. Fans who purchase a ticket to either contest can attend the other for FREE!
And as an added treat, between the two basketball games fans can experience Wake Forest's traditional night-before-home-football-game fireworks right outside LJVM Coliseum!
Volleyball Hosts UVA Friday Night, Women's Basketball Home Sunday Too
November is the month when our extremely hard-working operations staff clones itself to support our overlapping fall and winter sports. Admission is free as Coach Randi Smart's volleyball team looks for a season sweep over Virginia at 7 p.m. inside Varsity Arena!
Additionally on Sunday, our women's basketball team hits the hardwood for a matchup with UNCG at 1 p.m. inside Joel Coliseum. Tickets can be purchased here and the contest will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.
Meanwhile, our nationally ranked cross country programs will compete tomorrow morning at the NCAA Southeast Region Championships. We'll be watching the NCAA selection show at 5 p.m. on Saturday on NCAA.com to see if our men or women have qualified for the national meet!
Championship-Implication Big Game Atmosphere Awaits on Saturday Night at Truist Field
There is a true buzz around Winston-Salem ahead of this game. After the amazing sellout crowd and record student turnout two weeks ago for our game against Duke, we are looking for Demon Deacon Nation to bring that same energy on Saturday.
Saturday's 7:30 p.m. kickoff against the Wolfpack will serve as our football Senior Day as well! I look forward to Wake Forest honoring senior student-athletes, band members, cheerleader and spirit squad members and our football staff student members before the game.
Please arrive at Truist Field early on Saturday. With a capacity crowd expected, Wake Forest Athletics will open all stadium parking and tailgate lots at noon and we encourage all fans to allow for extra time to park, enter and get to their seats before the game. We'll also open up the free DEACTOWN Fan Zone presented by Forsyth County Farm Bureau Insurance early, at 3 p.m. with live music, food, and games for all ages.
Prior to Saturday's football game, Wake Forest will honor Robert Grant and Kenneth "Butch" Henry at the inaugural Trailblazer Award Ceremony! Bob and Butch were the first Black football student-athletes to enroll at a Division I institution in the South, joining the Wake Forest family in the fall of 1964. Being the first two Black football players at Wake Forest took tremendous courage and the support of teammates, the coaching staff, our University leadership and the Winston-Salem community. They were transformational leaders of character with the fortitude to persevere and blaze trails for future student-athletes of color at Wake Forest.
For the first time ever, Wake Forest Athletics will welcome ACCN's The Huddle for live pregame and postgame shows and broadcasts throughout the day! The ACC Network does an outstanding job sharing student-athlete stories from this incredible league and our University community is excited to host The Huddle this weekend! Coach Dave Clawson and Bob Grant will appear live on the pregame show between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. The Huddle set will be located above Deacon Hill near the Seven Saturdays Bar, Presented by R&D Brewing, underneath the Bob McCreary Video Board Honoring the Class of 1961.
Read Inspiring Letters & News "From Wente's Desk"
Our Wake Forest University President, Dr. Susan R. Wente, has done a terrific job building relationships across so many constituencies of our University community. She and her husband, Dr Chris Hardy, are regular attendees at Demon Deacon athletics contests and another one of the many ways she is connecting with Demon Deacon Nation is through From Wente's Desk.
Her recent message about "Leading with Trust, Transparency and Teamwork" especially resonated with me and absolutely reinforces our mindset of working together to provide a World Class Experience for all students. You can find President Wente's archive of newsletters here. Join me in following her on Twitter and Instagram for unique Wake Forest content.
Congrats! Demon Deacons Earn Plethora of Conference & National Awards
While much attention has been paid to our student-athletes on the football field with QB Sam Hartman being named a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award and Davey O'Brien Award and kicker Nick Sciba becoming a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award, Wake Forest has had many student-athletes earn recognition for their efforts over the fall season!
Women's soccer senior forward Shayla Smart and freshman midfielder Nikayla Small were named to the 2021 All-Atlantic Coast Conference Soccer team, men's soccer had four student-athletes (Kyle Holcomb, Nico Benalcazar, Omar Hernandez, Jake Swallen) earn All-ACC accolades, cross country runners Zach Facioni and Aaron Las Heras earned All-ACC honors and field hockey midfielders Meike Lanckohr and Nat Friedman earned All-Conference accolades as well.
And on the links Rachel Kuehn was named the ACC's Co-Women's Golfer of the Month for the month of October as she led the Deacs with a 70.75 stroke average over 12 rounds of fall play.
Welcome to Wake Forest! Seven New Demon Deacons Announced on Wednesday
Wake Forest men's golf, women's golf, volleyball, women's soccer, men's soccer, women's basketball, men's basketball and track & field all announced signees as a part of the fall semester national signing day! Stay tuned to GoDeacs.com as all our sports social media accounts will continue to share more signing day news.
From the Quad Big 3
Here are today's Big 3 ways to help the Deacs:
- No matter where you are, represent the Deacons with your Black and Gold every Friday! #WFFriday is an easy way to show the global spirit of Demon Deacon Nation!
- Bring your family or a friend to Joel Coliseum for men's and women's basketball! Wake Forest is set to host 11 games between tomorrow and Dec. 1! Click here for tickets to be part of fun and competitive ACC basketball!
- Read about Wake Forest in the news from this newsletter by our talented colleagues in the Communications & External Relations Office. Forward it to a Deacon friend today!
- D: Download mobile tickets for Saturday's football game.
- E: Arrive EARLY to DEACTOWN on Saturday!
- A: Ask our staff questions and call anytime at 336-758-GAME.
- C: Remember to bring your CLEAR bags to Truist Field.
- S: Steer clear of prohibited items before you arrive at the game.
With our first back-to-back home sellouts since 2006 it's a great time to be a Deacon! Have fun, cheer loud, and...
Go Deacs!
John Currie
Director of Athletics
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