Wake Forest Battles No. 18 Georgia Tech

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Wake Forest volleyball team lost in three tough sets to the No. 18 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

Georgia Tech came out of the gate with a strong offense and tough serves to start the first set and took an early 4-0 lead, but the Deacs answered to cut the deficit to 5-4. Another run from Georgia Tech put them up 10-7. That was as close the Deacs got to the Yellow Jackets before they took the first set 25-14.

"It took us a bit too long to get to the level of physicality we needed to be at," said head coach Randi Smart. "One of the biggest things we need to work on is coming out strong early and taking care of business."

The second set had four ties before Georgia Tech took the lead, 10-8, and kept it. The Yellow Jackets took their largest lead, 19-14, before Wake Forest called a timeout. The Deacs came out of the huddle and scored immediately to get within four. They remained within four for the rest of the set before Georgia Tech sealed it, 25-21, for the 2-0 advantage.

"I'm proud of them for figuring it out and stepping their game up every set," said Smart. "We improved every rally and that continued to show in our ability to score points. Kylie Adams stepped up big time and ran a good offense against one of the best teams in the country."

The third set saw the most action from both teams. The Deacs started with the momentum getting on the board first for a 1-0 lead. Three kills in a row from Tech gave them their largest lead of the set at 11-7. Wake Forest was able to shake off their mistakes to tie up at 13. From then, the Deacs never let up, taking a 17-15 lead, and forcing Georgia Tech to take a timeout. Back-to-back kills from sophomore Ashley Slater gave the Deacs the 20-15 lead, their largest of the match, and forced Tech to take their second timeout of the set. Wake Forest got up to 23-19 before Tech went on a small run to cut the deficit to one, at 23-22. The Deacs got to set point at 24 and 26 before the Yellow Jackets sealed their 3-0 victory with a 28-26 third set win.

"The ACC is a great volleyball conference. We have a lot of strong, fast, intelligent players. We love being in this league and we love the challenge that is ahead for us. As long as we continue to play to win, we will be competitive in every match."

Next Up
The Deacs will be back at home Sunday, September 26 for a matinee match with Clemson at 1 p.m. in Varsity Arena inside Reynolds Gymnasium. The match will stream live on ACC Network Extra.

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Team Stats

Malloy Kamryn

Ashley Slater

Peyton Suess

Olivia Franke

Players Mentioned

Kylie Adams

Ashley Slater

Wake Forest Athletics