Demon Deacons Fall in Season Opener to No. 13 Louisville

Saturday, March 6

Louisville, KY

2 P.M.

Wake Forest University

0-7,0-7

No. 13 Louisville

6-2,6-2

Wake Forest

Louisville

Photo by: Riley Herriman/WFU

Demon Deacons Fall in Season Opener to No. 13 Louisville

3/6/2021 4:33:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Demon Deacons Fall in Season Opener to No. 13 Louisville

Louisville, Ky. – The Wake Forest volleyball team dropped its opening match of the 2021 spring season to No. 13 Louisville.

Wake Forest was led offensively by sophomore Peyton Suess and freshman Ashley Slater, who each had six kills. Senior Caroline Kuhn was right behind with five. Freshmen Chloe Wilson and Olivia Franke each chipped in two.

Strategic offense led to just four blocks for both the Deacs and the Cardinals, but defense still played a big role as Louisville tallied 31 digs to Wake Forest's 20. The Cardinals also did not record a single reception error.

How It Happened
After the Cardinals took the first set, 25-14, the Deacs bounced back ready to take the second. With back-to-back kills by Suess, Wake Forest was able to keep it tight at 4-5. Two more kills in the second by sophomore Zoe Gonzales and Franke kept the Deacs within four of the Cardinals.

A kill by Slater kick started the offense, as Suess tallied two more kills and Franke notched one before the Cardinals took the second set 25-20. Despite a strong offensive effort by Carolina Kuhn and Ashley Slater with three and two kills in the third set, the Cardinals took the third and won the match 3-0.

Coach's Comments
On the team's performance…
"It felt really good to get out and compete again. The team has worked really hard the past four months and we're very proud of the progress they've made. We still have a long way to go but we are headed in the right direction and I'm excited to see how we progress through this unique season. We have an amazing opportunity here with nine more matches that a lot of people worked really hard to make possible, so we are going to take advantage to learn and grow as much as we can." – head coach Randi Smart

Notes for tomorrow…
"Volleyball is a game of serving and passing. If we can cut down service and reception errors, we'll be able to give ourselves a much better chance tomorrow. Louisville is a good team and we showed we can compete with them during the second set today. We got the first match jitters out of our system so it's time to clean up tomorrow." – Coach Smart

Up Next
The Deacs and Cardinals will face off tomorrow at 2 p.m. in the second and final match of the series at L&N Federal Credit Union Arena. The match will broadcast on ACC Network Extra.