Wake Forest Drops Road Battle to No. 16 Stanford

Friday, October 16

Stanford, Calif.

10 p.m.

Wake Forest University

8-10,2-5ACC

Stanford

11-6,4-3ACC

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Wake Forest	22	15	17	0
Stanford	25	25	25	3

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10/17/2026 12:55:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

The Demon Deacons will close their trip to the West Coast against Cal on Sunday, Oct. 18, at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT.

By: KJ Smith

STANFORD, Calif. – The Wake Forest volleyball team (8-10, 2-5 ACC) opened its road trip to the West Coast with a 3-0 loss to No. 16 Stanford (11-6, 4-3 ACC) on Friday night at Maples Pavilion.

Freshman Lyla Stewart led the Demon Deacons with 11 kills against the Cardinal, surpassing 200 kills for the season. Stewart also logged eight digs and a block.

The Powell, Ohio, native has now recorded 10 or more kills in three consecutive matches, tallying 42 kills during that stretch.

Graduate student Ryleigh Whitekettle also reached double-digit kills on Friday night, totaling 10 kills while adding three digs and two blocks. Whitekettle was especially dominant in the second set, notching seven of her 10 kills.

Senior libero Andrea Roman continued her stellar season defensively as she totaled a team-high 12 digs, bringing her ACC-leading total to 280. The Humacao, Puerto Rico, native also added five assists and a pair of service aces.

Elsewhere, junior Becca Bellows recorded a team-high 21 assists. Meanwhile, sophomore Amina N'Diaye logged seven kills, while redshirt junior Catherine Burke notched six kills and a team-high four blocks.

How It Happened

The Demon Deacons got on the board first as redshirt junior Catherine Burke hammered home a kill that was set up by an assist from junior Becca Bellows.
- Freshman Lyla Stewart added a kill on the next rally to give Wake Forest an early two-point lead.
Graduate student Ryleigh Whitekettle and redshirt senior Sanaa Williams combined on a block to give the Deacs a 4-3 lead.
Sophomore Kelis Hawkins ended a six-point surge by Stanford with a kill.
Fellow sophomore Amina N'Diaye and freshman Lyla Stewart notched back-to-back kills to cut the deficit to three.
- N'Diaye logged three kills in a row to make it 11-10.
Whitekettle pushed the Deacs within two with her first kill of the match.
Following a short run by the Cardinal, the Demon Deacons went on a three-point swing to make it 15-14.
- Whitekettle kicked off the run with a kill.
- Senior Andrea Roman tallied a service ace to move the Deacs within two.
- Stewart capped off the run with her third kill of the set.
N'Diaye recorded another kill to end a short spurt by the Cardinal.
The Demon Deacons moved within a point late in the set after a 3-0 run.
- Burke and Stewart combined on a block before Roman logged her second ace.
- The Deacs capitalized on an error to make it 23-22.
The Cardinal won the opening set, 25-22.
Wake Forest came out on fire in the second set, jumping out to a 3-1 lead.
- Stewart put the Deacs on the board with a kill.
- Burke and N'Diaye blocked a Stanford attack to give Wake Forest the lead.
- Whitekettle ended the run with a kill.
The Deacs pushed their lead to five points as Whitekettle hammered home four straight kills.
After a long run by Stanford, Wake Forest capitalized on an attack error to reclaim a one-point lead.
Stewart ended a 6-1 spurt by the Cardinal to cut the deficit to three.
Stanford won the second set, 25-15.
The Demon Deacons and the Cardinal traded points during the early stages of the third set.
Burke notched a kill to end an 8-1 run by the Cardinal, making it 12-7.
- Whitekettle logged a solo block on the next rally to cut the deficit to four.
Stewart and Whitekettle both recorded their 10th kills of the match on back-to-back rallies to move the Deacs within three.
Burke and sophomore Sadie Poeck combined to stop a Cardinal attack to make it 21-17.
Stanford won the third set, 25-17.

Standout Stats

Freshman Lyla Stewart led the Demon Deacons with 11 kills to go along with eight digs and a block.
Graduate student Ryleigh Whitekettle recorded 10 kills against the Cardinal, bringing her season total to 215 kills.
- Whitekettle tallied seven kills during the second set alone.
Senior Andrea Roman tallied a team-high 12 digs against Stanford, bringing her season total to 280.
- The Humacao, Puerto Rico, native leads the ACC in total digs this season.

ACC Digs Leaders

Rank	Name	School	Total Digs
1.	Andrea Roman	Wake Forest	280
2.	Payton Petersen	Louisville	275
3.	Ivy Cooper	Virginia Tech	272
4.	Maya Evens	Notre Dame	255
5.	Zuzanna Maciejewicz	NC State	243

From Coach Hulsmeyer
"We had a couple good performances. I thought Ryleigh Whitekettle really shined tonight. She did a really good job. Catherine Burke did a good job offensively as well. It's a tough matchup, but I'm happy with the way we battled. We've got to come back and get a win on Sunday."

Up Next
The Demon Deacons close out their trip to the West Coast against Cal on Sunday, Oct. 18, at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT, with the match streaming live on ACC Network Extra.