Hot Start Not Enough to Propel Wake Forest

Friday, March 19

Chapel Hill, NC

5:00 P.M.

Wake Forest University

0-11,0-10ACC

North Carolina

9-4,8-3ACC

Wake Forest

North Carolina

3/19/2021 7:44:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Wake Forest volleyball team dropped an offensive battle to Big Four opponent North Carolina on Friday night.

The Demon Deacons were led by senior Caroline Kuhn, sophomore Zoe Gonzales and freshman Ashley Slater. Kuhn headed the offense with 14 kills. Slater and Gonzales followed with 12 and 10 kills respectively. This is the second consecutive match this spring season three Demon Deacons have had 10 or more kills in the same match. Gonzales' 10 kills were a new career high and her .714 hitting percentage was a team and match best.

Sophomore Peyton Suess tacked on seven kills for the Deacs and freshman Olivia Franke added five more from the middle. Franke's five kills were the most she's had in a match since her career-high eight kills at Clemson October 29. Her .333 hitting percentage for the match is good for third best in her career with a minimum of nine swings.

How It Happened
The Deacs started hot and took the first set in dominating fashion, not allowing the Tar Heels to get to 20 points. Carolina kept it close in the first half of the set, staying within three of the Wake Forest up to the 15-point mark. With the score 15-13, three kills in a row from Franke helped the Deacs pull away and go up 20-15. Three kills from Gonzales and one from Suess sealed the first set 25-19 for Wake Forest.

The Deacs went point for point with the Tar Heels to start the second set, staying within one up to the 10-point mark. The Heels took a 10-9 advantage and never looked back. Two kills from Kuhn and multiple Carolina errors got the Deacs back within one late in the set, 21-22, but the Tar Heels took the second set 25-21.

Despite the Demon Deacons recording three service aces and 24 kills over the final two sets, the Tar Heels took both the third and fourth sets to win the match 3-1.

Coach's Comments
"We all wanted to get a win today. This was another tough one, against another Big 4 opponent. We weren't as strong on the block today as we were last week and have to fine tune our serving if we want to compete with Notre Dame tomorrow." – head coach Randi Smart

Up Next
The Demon Deacons will remain in Chapel Hill to face the Notre Dame Irish Saturday in an afternoon matinee. First serve is set for 3:00 p.m. ET in Carmichael Arena.