Demon Deacons Fall to NC State to Conclude Three-Match Road Stretch

Friday, October 23

Raleigh, N.C.

6 p.m.

Wake Forest University

8-12,2-7ACC

NC State

13-7,4-5ACC

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Wake Forest	19	10	23	0
NC State	25	25	25	3

PDF Box Score

10/23/2026 8:53:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

The Deacs will host the Wolfpack at Varsity Arena on Sunday, Oct. 25, at 1 p.m.

By: KJ Smith

RALEIGH, N.C. – The Wake Forest volleyball team (8-12, 2-7 ACC) concluded its three-match road stretch against Big Four rival NC State (13-7, 4-5 ACC), falling 3-0 on Friday evening at James T. Valvano Arena at Reynolds Coliseum.

Freshman Lyla Stewart led the Demon Deacons with seven kills against the Wolfpack. Stewart also recorded seven digs.

Graduate student Ryleigh Whitekettle recorded five kills, a team-high three blocks and one assist

Meanwhile, senior Laiya Ebo and redshirt junior Catherine Burke added five kills each on Friday. Additionally, Ebo led the Deacs with a .571 hitting percentage, while Burke hit .444.

Defensively, senior Andrea Roman led the team with eight digs, bringing her ACC-leading total to 302.

How It Happened

Sophomore Amina N'Diaye notched the first kill of the match for the Demon Deacons to tie the first set at 2-2.
Graduate student Ryleigh Whitekettle added a kill to level the score at 4-4.
After the two teams traded points, N'Diaye logged her second kill of the set to make it 12-9.
- Whitekettle and redshirt senior Sanaa Williams combined on a block to cut the deficit to two on the next rally.
NC State went on a short run before senior Laiya Ebo hammered home a kill to make it 13-17.
Wake Forest capitalized on a kill by redshirt junior Catherine Burke and a pair of Wolfpack errors to move within two.
- Burke added another kill moments later to make it 22-18.
N'Diaye and Williams blocked an attack by the Wolfpack to cut the deficit to three.
NC State won the second set, 25-19.
The Demon Deacons grabbed an early lead in the second set following back-to-back kills by Burke and Whitekettle.
Ebo ended an 8-1 run by the Wolfpack with a kill.
Stewart and Whitekettle notched back-to-back kills to make it 11-7.
Following another run by NC State, Stewart registered her second kill of the set to cut the deficit to 17-8.
- Whitekettle logged another kill moments later to move the Demon Deacons within 10.
The Wolfpack won the second set, 25-10.
Wake Forest jumped out to a 2-1 lead following a kill by Stewart.
The Deacs capitalized on a pair of errors and a kill by Burke to take a 7-4 lead.
After the two sides traded points, the Wolfpack went on a 6-1 run to take a five-point lead.
- Whitekettle ended the run with a kill before teaming up with sophomore Kelis Hawkins on a block to make it 18-15.
Following a short spurt by NC State, the Demon Deacons responded with a 3-0 run to cut the deficit to two.
- Hawkins and Whitekettle opened the run with a block.
- The Deacs forced a pair of errors to make it 20-18.
Stewart recorded back-to-back kills to move the Deacs within one.
NC State won the third set, 25-23.

Standout Stats

Senior Andrea Roman tallied eight digs against NC State, bringing her season total to 302.
- The Humacao, Puerto Rico, native currently leads the ACC in total digs this season.

ACC Digs Leaders

Rank	Name	School	Total Digs
1.	Andrea Roman	Wake Forest	302
2.	Maya Evens	Notre Dame	297
3.	Payton Petersen	Louisville	292
4.	Ivy Cooper	Virginia Tech	283
5.	Sophia Johnson	Cal	260

From Coach Hulsmeyer
"We continue to show our resilience, especially after seeing us come back in that third set following just a poor second set. What we have to take from this is how we have to play. We have to be aggressive and play with confidence. When we do, we're a much more capable team. The most important thing is that we learn from this and we improve. We have the chance to play the same team again on Sunday. This happened last year where we won at our place in three sets, and then we came over here and lost on the road. We've got to defend our home court. We're definitely going to play with effort and attitude on Sunday."

Up Next
The Demon Deacons return to Varsity Arena on Sunday, Oct. 25, to host the Wolfpack at 1 p.m., beginning a three-match homestand.

Admission is free for all spectators, and the match will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.