Sunday, September 22
Winston-Salem, N.C.
2 P.M.
Wake Forest University
8-3,0-0ACC
3
vs
2
Davidson
4-7,0-0Atlantic 10
1
2
3
4
5
F
Davidson
25
21
25
18
10
2
Wake Forest
16
25
22
25
15
3
Photo by: Seth Seebaugh
Deacs Earn Second Weekend Sweep, Down Davidson in Five Sets
9/22/2024 6:02:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Laila Ricks and Olivia Murphy shined for Wake Forest volleyball on Sunday!
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Battling a second in-state foe for the weekend, Wake Forest volleyball (8-3) hosted Davidson (4-7) on Sunday afternoon (Sept. 22) inside Varsity Arena. The Demon Deacons came back from a 2-1 deficit to secure the contest in five sets (16-25, 25-21, 22-25, 25-18, 15-10).
Wake Forest notched its second weekend sweep of fall 2024 while also bumping its ongoing win streak up to five matches.
Sunday was the team's final non-conference showing of the regular season, as the Deacs went 8-3 against such competition this year. It currently rests as the second-best non-conference clip within the head coach Randi Smart era.
Laila Ricks and Olivia Murphy both exploded for new career highs in kills, going for 18 and 17, respectively. Murphy was exceptional in her attacking percentage, the best of her career (.654) and best by a Deacon hitter since Ashley Slater's .706 hitting performance at Syracuse last season on Oct. 8, 2023. Ricks was also very solid in her swings (.395) while adding five blocks.
Emma Farrell posted an eye-popping double-double that included a season high in digs (26) and new career high in assists (12). Paige Crawford fell just short of her own double-double – 18 kills (season high) and eight digs.
Setters Rian Baker (26 assists and eight digs) and Becca Bellows (27 assists and seven digs) helped control the offensive tempo while Tina Grkovic contributed six kills and seven blocks.
The Deacs have now won four of their first five home matches.
How it Happened
Standout Stats
Additional Notes
From Coach Smart
"Davidson is always a gritty team, we knew that coming into today. It was good to see us again stay the course and keep fighting until the final horn. Very strong days by several of our players. I thought we were very aggressive at times in our offense and maintained focus. Our non-conference matches saw us do some good things and we know what we need to continue to build on as ACC play starts here very soon. Time for another week of preparation."
Up Next
Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) action begins for Wake Forest next weekend, with the Deacs holding their conference opener at home on Friday night (Sept. 27) versus Virginia. A Sunday afternoon matchup with Virginia Tech (Sept. 29) will then round out the weekend.
Follow the Deacs
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | GoDeacs.com
Wake Forest notched its second weekend sweep of fall 2024 while also bumping its ongoing win streak up to five matches.
Sunday was the team's final non-conference showing of the regular season, as the Deacs went 8-3 against such competition this year. It currently rests as the second-best non-conference clip within the head coach Randi Smart era.
Laila Ricks and Olivia Murphy both exploded for new career highs in kills, going for 18 and 17, respectively. Murphy was exceptional in her attacking percentage, the best of her career (.654) and best by a Deacon hitter since Ashley Slater's .706 hitting performance at Syracuse last season on Oct. 8, 2023. Ricks was also very solid in her swings (.395) while adding five blocks.
Emma Farrell posted an eye-popping double-double that included a season high in digs (26) and new career high in assists (12). Paige Crawford fell just short of her own double-double – 18 kills (season high) and eight digs.
Setters Rian Baker (26 assists and eight digs) and Becca Bellows (27 assists and seven digs) helped control the offensive tempo while Tina Grkovic contributed six kills and seven blocks.
The Deacs have now won four of their first five home matches.
How it Happened
- Wake Forest earned an opening point after Olivia Murphy nailed a kill, assisted by Rian Baker.
- The two teams then traded errors.
- Laila Ricks and Paige Crawford helped the Wake Forest squad in its attacking game – with four straight kills, two each, leading the set (6-2).
- A Sahara Maruska swing led to a Deacs ace to lead 7-2.
- Davidson took the lead (11-9), earning four straight kills, along with four aces (22-11)
- Wake Forest trailed 11-5 in the first.
- The Deacs posted five more points down the stretch, suffering a 25-16 defeat in set one.
- With a strong start in the second, Ricks earned two back-to-back kills, giving Wake Forest a 3-2 lead.
- Davidson went head-to-head trailing behind the Deacons (3-4) with two kills.
- Davidson tied it up (4-4) with an ace, but Wake Forest struck back, highlighted by a Crawford kill.
- Davidson trailed the Deacs, 6-8.
- Wake Forest continued with a five-point lead (12-7), starting with a Murphy kill, followed by Ricks and Crawford.
- Davidson made it a four-point match with three straight kills (19-23).
- Following a Davidson service error, Wake Forest won the set (25-21).
- The Deacs finished the second set with 15 kills – as Ricks added five in the period alone.
- Back on the floor for the third set, Wake Forest earned the first point off of a Crawford kill.
- Tina Grkovic followed immediately afterward with her own hammer.
- With a close head-to-head set, a Becca Bellows ace kept the Deacs going with a one-point advantage (19-20).
- Wake Forest took on the fourth game with a 4-2 lead, highlighted by four kills from Charles, Ricks (two), and Crawford.
- Davidson made it a one-point game with a kill.
- For the final set, Wake Forest and Davidson battled with a tight game, but the Deacons took the match with a 15-10 victory in the fifth.
- Ricks went 3-of-5 on her attacks with zero errors, as Grkovic added two blocks.
Standout Stats
- A quartet of Deacs all had standout performances against Davidson:
- Olivia Murphy – 17 kills (career high), .654 hitting percentage and four blocks
- Laila Ricks – 18 kills (career high), .395 hitting percentage and five blocks
- Emma Farrell – 26 digs (season high) and 12 assists (career high)
- Paige Crawford – 18 kills (season high) and eight digs
- Wake Forest bested the Wildcats in multiple statistical categories:
- Points: 86.0 to 77.0
- Kills: 69 to 63
- Blocks: 13 to 6
- Assists: 65 to 61
- As a team, the Deacons tallied a .318 hitting percentage – their second highest in a single match this season.
- The best mark happened versus Stetson (.395) in the South Carolina Invitational last weekend on Sept. 14.
- The fourth and fifth sets during Sunday's match saw Wake Forest hit .432 and .467, respectively.
Additional Notes
- Wake Forest matched up with Davidson on Sunday for the 14th time throughout program history.
- The Deacs hold a commanding 11-3 record in the all-time series.
- Sunday featured the second time this year in which three Deacs totaled 16 or more kills in a single showing:
- Versus Davidson (9/22/24) – Laila Ricks (18), Paige Crawford (18) and Olivia Murphy (17)
- Versus FIU (9/13/24) – Jaime Santer (20), Olivia Franke (19) and Laila Ricks (16)
- The Deacons have won at least eight non-conference, regular-season matches in each of the last three seasons.
- Totaling three kills against the Wildcats, Sahara Maruska is only 64 away from reaching 1,000 for her collegiate career.
- Paige Crawford has either led or tied as the team leader in kills for three straight matches, currently at 46 kills through the last 13 sets played.
- The Wimberley, Texas native reached over 800 career kills on Sunday.
- Rian Baker reached over 400 assists for her career during the match and Laila Ricks passed over 400 blocks.
- Up to date in the head coach Randi Smart era, Wake Forest has totaled a 44-11 record versus non-conference competition.
- Additionally, the program has gone 15-2 at home against such foes during that span.
From Coach Smart
"Davidson is always a gritty team, we knew that coming into today. It was good to see us again stay the course and keep fighting until the final horn. Very strong days by several of our players. I thought we were very aggressive at times in our offense and maintained focus. Our non-conference matches saw us do some good things and we know what we need to continue to build on as ACC play starts here very soon. Time for another week of preparation."
Up Next
Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) action begins for Wake Forest next weekend, with the Deacs holding their conference opener at home on Friday night (Sept. 27) versus Virginia. A Sunday afternoon matchup with Virginia Tech (Sept. 29) will then round out the weekend.
Follow the Deacs
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | GoDeacs.com
Team Stats
DC
WF
Kills
63
69
Errors
24
14
Attempts
169
173
Hitting %
.231
.318
Points
77.0
86.0
Assists
61
65
Aces
8
4
Blocks
6
13
Game Leaders
Kills
18
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
18
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
17
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
7
Players Mentioned
S
/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's Volleyball
DS
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's Volleyball
OH/RS
/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's Volleyball
OH/RS
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