Wake Forest Athletics
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From the Quad
10/1/2026 2:00:00 PM | General
Good Afternoon Deacon Nation!
I’m always proud to be a Demon Deacon but I have to admit, it's been extra fun this past week. And even though this vocation comes with a little occasional stress, getting to experience last Saturday's thrilling finish in Louisville, where Coach Jake Dickert's never-say-die Deacs knocked off the No. 16 Cardinals on a blocked field goal with 18 seconds to play, and see the smiles and joy on the faces of our players, staff families and fans, reminds me that nothing about my job comes close to the typical definition of “work!”
With Carlos Hernandez bursting into the national scene with 194 receiving yards and a 77-yard touchdown and big defensive surge helping Gabe Kirschke getting a big paw on the kick to seal the 30-27 win it was another true team effort for the Deacs!
Sunday morning I checked in on a tired-but-focused Coach Dickert in his Sutton Sports Performance Center office, already having completed his film grading and focusing on Stanford prep, and I then spent an inspirational 30 minutes visiting with a Broyhill Auditorium full of dedicated Wake student government representatives led by SGA President Gray Lowder. I walked back over to Kentner Stadium for our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee pre-field hockey game tailgate and got to congratulate legendary coach Jen Averill on the field after the #5 ranked Demon Deacons downed No. 11 Syracuse 4-2 behind two goals from freshman Bianca Rees-Gibbs.
As the day went by my phone kept buzzing with more congratulatory texts from friends and colleagues from around the country and with Wake Forest being one of just five schools in the country with two Power 4 road wins this season it feels good to have Demon Deacon football finally back in the consciousness of the national media, and picked up 88 votes in this week's AP poll!
And lo and behold, our Deacs are competing with the best in the country across the board, with No. 1 women's golf, No. 4 women's soccer, No. 5 field hockey, men's cross country ranked No. 8, and men's soccer tied for first in the ACC! The good news doesn't stop at the scoreboard, either as earlier today we announced our new partnership with Playfly Sports.
We'll get to all of that and more in today's From the Quad, but it’s time to dial in on Saturday's main event!
Family Weekend: Stanford Comes to Allegacy Financial Stadium for a Noon Kickoff
Allegacy Financial Stadium will be rocking Saturday at noon as the ACC Network cameras light up for our 3-1 Demon Deacons against the Stanford Cardinal. It’s Family Weekend and we are honored to welcome thousands of Deacon student family members from around the US and the world to Allegacy Stadium. With Stanford coming off a big win over Georgia Tech last week, and quarterback Davis Warren competing at a high level, it will be a huge challenge for the Deacons in the fourth all-time meeting of two of the most respected academic institutions in the country. The last clash with the Cardinal went down to the wire as the Deacons prevailed 27-24 in Palo Alto in 2024 and we need lots of noise from the Screaming Demons on Saturday. Fewer than 1,000 tickets remain so click here to pick up last minute tickets and bring a friend to Allegacy Stadium!
With a potential national ranking on the line, an anticipated sell-out, and the Carolina Classic Fair underway right next door… Get here early! Get loud! Go Deacs!
- Arrive Early! Even with our super friendly and efficient RSES parking and gate staff welcoming you to Wake Forest, 30,000 fans can’t all get through the gates at the exact same time! More than a few of you experienced this ten minutes before kick-off of the Miami game, so please leave home just a little bit earlier and then pack up the tailgate with enough time to be in your seats for the pregame show. Parking lots open at 7 a.m., the student tailgate and Lowes DEACTOWN Fan Zone at 9 a.m., followed by the Deacon Walk at 9:45 a.m. Stadium gates open at 10:30 a.m. ahead of our noon kickoff.
- Open the Gate: Traci Piccolo Dolby! Before kickoff, Traci Piccolo Dolby ('89), daughter of late Demon Deacon legend Brian Piccolo ('65), will lead our team onto the field as this week's Open the Gate honoree. Traci was there in 1980 when students held the first fund drive in her father's memory, planting the seeds for Hit the Bricks, which has raised more than $2 million for cancer research since 2003. Be in your seats early to see it!
- Free Park and Ride Options to Get to the Game: Two free parking options are available for all fans - the lot at 2400 Reynolda as well as the church lot at 3730 University Parkway (near Polo Road and Long Drive) - and include complimentary shuttle service to and from the LJVM Coliseum main entrance beginning two hours before kickoff. Family Weekend guests on campus can hitch a ride with their student on the student shuttles running from Lot P between Poteat Hall and Wait Chapel starting at 9 a.m.
- Walking From Main Campus: Walking from campus to Allegacy Stadium is easier than ever via the Faculty Drive Gate, University Parkway crosswalk and The Grounds Trail, along the beautifully restored Silas Creek. More than 400 fans used the University Parkway crosswalk for the Miami game... a growing taste of how The Grounds project is transforming gameday connectivity. For those driving to the game, please watch your speed on University Parkway.
- Parking Preparation: If you are driving, click here for custom maps to guide you to your preferred parking lot. Only Grounds Lot Passholders should turn east on Deacon Boulevard from University Parkway, and you must have a parking pass for McCreary Tower, Couch, Starry, or Diet Pepsi to turn west on Deacon Boulevard from Shorefair Drive.
- Pack that Student Section… Again: Let’s give credit where credit is due as more than 4,500 Wake Forest students packed the student section for our clash with No. 5 Miami a few weeks ago. With 1,000 of our juniors studying abroad this semester, this is a remarkably high percentage of our student body in attendance! Thank you Wake Forest Students!
Big Family Weekend Battles At Home - Men’s and Women's Soccer - Hoops at the Joel!
Coach Bobby Muuss and the Deacs (7-2-1, 3-1-0 ACC) sit tied atop the ACC standings and have a huge opportunity at 7:00 PM Friday night with #1 SMU rolling into Spry. The Deacs downed NC State 2-1 in Raleigh last Friday, extending our unbeaten streak against the Wolfpack to 24 straight meetings dating back to 2006! Owen Barnett earned the win in his first career start in goal, filling in for senior Jonah Mednard who is away on his first call-up to the Haiti senior national team, then followed it up with his first career clean sheet in Tuesday's 3-0 win over Loyola Chicago!
Did you see Coach Steve Forbes’ preseason message to our men’s basketball team? It’s gone viral all over the country and is a great reminder for us all to cherish every moment and embrace the journey. Come check out the Deacs on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. in an exhibition game against the Georgetown Hoyas. Season ticket holders receive complimentary tickets, kids 12 and under get in free, and general admission tickets are $10, so bring your neighborhood friends! Get tickets here or watch on ESPN+.
Then, head back to Spry where our No. 4 women's soccer program (9-1-0) takes the pitch Sunday at 5 p.m. against Big Four rival NC State following their recent west coast swing that included a 3-1 win at Cal!
Protect College Sports Act Clears the U.S. Senate
On Monday night, the U.S. Senate passed the Protect College Sports Act with strong bipartisan support, including affirmative votes from both our North Carolina senators, Thom Tillis and Ted Budd. As always, there is no such thing as a perfect bill, but we continue to believe that the PCSA is the best possible chance to stabilize college sports and lock in incredible benefits for student-athletes across the country. Important elements of the PCSA include regulations of the transfer portal, codification of the new five year eligibility clock, a “Hard Cap” that codifies portions of the House Settlement and supports the College Sports Commission’s ability to enforce the House Settlement without the threat of challenges. Student-athletes' benefits include a significantly expanded revenue sharing pool, and health and education guarantees. It’s unclear when the House of Representatives will take up the PCSA, so stay tuned!
Meeting the Moment: What Our New Partnership With Playfly Sports Means for Deacon Nation
College athletics is changing faster than at any point in my 33 years in this business, but Wake Forest is meeting the moment with purpose. As announced earlier today, Playfly Sports will become our multimedia rights partner beginning July 1, 2027, leading corporate partnerships and sponsorship sales across all of our sports, from jersey patches and court logos to NIL opportunities for our student-athletes. Just as important, Playfly is one of the most creative groups in the country in the NIL space. We also appreciate that Wake Forest will be Playfly’s top priority in North Carolina as their sole Big Four school, among 30 total college athletic properties, including Virginia, Penn State, Nebraska, Texas A&M, Auburn and Baylor.
We've already seen what a partnership that reaches across campus can do for our students. This summer, Pepsi Bottling Ventures began a 10-year agreement with Wake Forest that supports student scholarships, paid internships, NIL opportunities, and athletic facility upgrades. Both these exciting partnerships - and the long-term investments of energy and time by Playfly and Pepsi - are tangible validation of the upward trajectory and growing brand value of Wake Forest Athletics.
Allegacy Financial Expands Its Partnership With Wake Forest... On and Off the Field
Some of our best partners are right here at home. Winston-Salem's own Allegacy Financial has renewed and expanded its university-wide partnership with Wake Forest, building on the stadium naming rights agreement that put the Allegacy name on our home field in 2023.
Allegacy serves as our preferred financial education provider for student-athletes, helping them with everything from everyday financial decisions to managing NIL income, and will open doors to paid internships and career pathways for students across campus. It's another example of a partnership that serves our students well beyond gameday... and I'm grateful to Allegacy for continuing to invest in Wake Forest and in Winston-Salem.
Women’s Golf No. 1 in the Country; Next Stop Chapel Hill!
Coach Kim Lewellen’s women’s golf team is ranked No. 1 in the latest WGCA Coaches Poll! Most recently the Deacs won the stroke-play portion of the Jackson T. Stephens Cup in Texas, where senior Macy Pate claimed the individual title for the second straight year. As one of my long-time mentors always said, the wind blows hard at the top of the flagpole... and it’ll be hard to hold the pole position in September in a sport that doesn’t crown its champion until May. But that is the life of Kim Lewellen and Wake Forest women’s golf! Next up is the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational in Chapel Hill, Oct. 16-18. Go Low Deacs!
No. 5 Field Hockey Heads North With Coach Averill Three Wins From 450
Coach Jennifer Averill's No. 5 field hockey team (6-3, 1-1 ACC) hits the road for four straight, starting tomorrow at Boston College (5 p.m.) and Sunday at No. 8 Harvard (noon), before heading west to Cal and Stanford. Coach Averill is just three wins away from her 450th victory as a Demon Deacon... a special milestone that could come on this trip!
No. 8 Men’s Cross Country Off and Running; Both Squads Head to Wisconsin
Our Men’s cross country team is ranked No. 8 in the country and won the team title at the adidas XC Challenge, with freshman Daniel Skandera earning ACC Freshman of the Week honors. On the women’s side, senior Brooke Wilson placed eighth at Princeton’s Meadows Challenge. Both squads head to Madison on Oct. 9 for the Nuttycombe Invitational.
Wake Volleyball Head Coach Hulsmeyer One Win From 300 For His Career
Coach Jeff Hulsmeyer is one win away from his 300th career victory as the volleyball team heads south to Miami tomorrow night at 7 p.m., followed by a road match at Florida State on Sunday at 1 p.m. Freshman Lyla Stewart has been a big reason for the Deacs' fight so far, opening ACC play with back-to-back double-doubles, while senior libero Andrea Roman leads the ACC with 223 digs on the season. The Deacs return home to host Boston College at Varsity Arena on Friday, Oct. 9, at 6:30 p.m.
Mosejczuk Punches His Ticket to the NCAA Singles Championship
Men’s tennis sophomore Dominick Mosejczuk saved four match points in one of his wins at the ITA All-American Championships on his way to an automatic berth in the NCAA Singles Championship! Mees Rottgering is competing at the ATP Challenger in Columbus this week, and our women’s team heads to Montgomery, Ala., for the Blue Gray Classic.
Men's Golf Runner-Up at Highlands; Two Deacs Part of Presidents Cup Win
Coach Jerry Haas' Deacs finished runner-up at the Highlands Invitational, and head to the Hamptons Intercollegiate next week. Congratulations as well to Cameron Young ('19) and Webb Simpson ('08), part of Team USA's Presidents Cup win in Chicago, highlighted by Cam sinking a 31-foot putt on No. 16 to win his singles match!
Remember that GoDeacs.com and all our social media channels are great ways to keep up with all the action, and check ESPN+ and ACCNX from wherever you are for home and away soccer, volleyball, and field hockey matches.
Remembering Ernie Accorsi (’63)
Wake Forest lost one of its own last week with the passing of Ernie Accorsi at age 84. Ernie got his start as sports editor of the Old Gold and Black and sports director of WFDD, and went on to serve as general manager of the Baltimore Colts, Cleveland Browns, and New York Giants. In New York, he traded for Eli Manning and hired Tom Coughlin, building the teams that won Super Bowls after the 2007 and 2011 seasons, and the Giants inducted him into their Ring of Honor in 2016. We were proud to welcome Ernie into the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame in 2008. Our thoughts are with his family and friends. Read more about his remarkable life and career here.
From the Quad Big 3
Finally, here are today's Big 3 ways to help the Deacs:
- Wake Forest students manifest Pro Humanitate with the annual Hit the Bricks relay which started earlier this morning on Hearn Plaza. There’s a Parent/Family Lap at 4 p.m., and all gifts are welcome, with 100% of donations going to cancer research. In that spirit, Coach Dickert, Coach Forbes and I took turns in the dunk tank on Monday, with every ticket sold supporting the Brian Piccolo Cancer Research Fund. Here’s Coach Dickert getting... Dunked in the Dark!
- Mark down Saturday, Nov. 7, for the third annual Gold Rush Childhood Cancer Game against Merrimack, benefiting Atrium Health Levine Children’s Brenner Children’s Hospital. Gold Rush packages are $35 and include a game ticket and a commemorative t-shirt, with $15 from every package going to Brenner Children’s. Get yours here, or text BRENNER to 44834 to give.
- If you haven't watched our football cinematic recaps yet, you're missing out! After every Deacon win, our talented creative team captures the game from the inside, from the sideline and the locker room to moments you won't see on TV. This week is a special one. Watch the Louisville recap here, and share it with a fellow Deac!
Finally, we’ve got our traditional Night Before the Game fireworks set for Friday, around 9:00 p.m., immediately after the men’s soccer game so if you live close to campus please remind your neighbors to expect a little extra noise!
That’s it for today! Let me know your favorite moment of Family Weekend, and if you see anything around our games that we need to tweak, traffic or otherwise, send your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions to me at wfuad@wfu.edu.
As always, thank you for your support of Wake Forest student-athletes.
