Demon Deacons Drop Road Battle to Florida State

Sunday, October 4

Tallahassee, Fla.

1 p.m.

Wake Forest University

6-9,0-4ACC

Florida State

8-6,3-1ACC

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Wake Forest	20	22	23	0
Florida St.	25	25	25	3

PDF Box Score

10/4/2026 3:49:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

The Deacs return to Varsity Arena next weekend against Boston College and Syracuse.

By: KJ Smith

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Wake Forest volleyball team (6-9, 0-4 ACC) dropped a conference road battle against Florida State (8-6, 3-1 ACC) by a final score of 3-0 on Sunday afternoon at Tully Gymnasium.

Offensively, the Demon Deacons were led by freshman Lyla Stewart, who recorded nine kills against the Seminoles. Stewart also tallied seven digs and a service ace.

Senior Laiya Ebo produced a solid performance off the bench, totaling seven kills and a team-high four blocks. Meanwhile, graduate student Ryleigh Whitekettle and redshirt junior Catherine Burke totaled six kills each.

Senior Andrea Roman pushed her conference-leading digs total to 246 as she logged eight digs, as well as three assists, on Sunday.

Elsewhere, junior Becca Bellows and freshman Emma Keeping reached double-digit assists. Bellows led the Demon Deacons with 12 assists to go along with two service aces, while Keeping added 10 assists and eight digs.

How It Happened

Redshirt junior Catherine Burke put the Deacs on the board first in the opening set with a kill.
The Deacs rattled off four straight points to take a 5-1 lead early in the first set.
- Graduate student Ryleigh Whitekettle and freshman Lyla Stewart both recorded kills during the run.
- Whitekettle also combined on a block with redshirt senior Sanaa Williams.
The Seminoles tied the match at 5-5 before Stewart gave the Demon Deacons the lead back with a kill.
Wake Forest went on another four-point surge to push its lead to 11-7.
- Senior Laiya Ebo tallied a kill and block alongside Burke during the stretch.
The Deacs capitalized on a pair of Florida State errors, as well as a service ace by Becca Bellows, to claim a five-point lead.
After the Seminoles took the lead following a short run, the Demon Deacons responded with a kill by Ebo and an ace by Stewart to move within a point.
Florida State took the first set, 25-20.
The Seminoles opened the second set on a 4-0 run.
The Deacs battled back as freshman Emma Keeping notched a service ace to make it 6-5.
The two sides traded points throughout the middle stages of the set.
Wake Forest went on a 3-0 run to take a 19-18 lead.
- Freshman Ava Roddey capped off the run with a service ace to give the Demon Deacons the lead.
The Seminoles won the second set, 25-22.
Stewart registered a kill for the first point of the third set.
Bellows added her second service ace of the match to cut the Seminoles' lead to one.
After the Seminoles pushed their lead to four, the Demon Deacons claimed six of the next seven points to take a 17-16 lead.
- Ebo and freshman Camille McCoy tied the match with a block before McCoy gave the Deacs the lead with a kill.
Ebo and McCoy combined on another block to make it 20-19.
Florida State won the third set, 25-23.

Standout Stats

Freshman Lyla Stewart led the Demon Deacons with nine kills.
- Stewart has now led the Deacs in kills seven times this season.
Laiya Ebo provided a major spark off the bench on Sunday, totaling seven kills and a team-high four blocks.
Senior Andrea Roman tallied eight digs against the Seminoles, bringing her season total to 246.
- Roman has now totaled double-digit digs in 14 of Wake Forest's 15 matches this season.
- 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	246
2.	Ivy Cooper	Virginia Tech	224
3.	Payton Petersen	Louisville	223
4.	Maya Evens	Notre Dame	215
5.	Zuzanna Maciejewicz	NC State	212

From Coach Hulsmeyer
"Today was a little bit of a similar story to Friday. I really like the way that we were capable of playing at moments. We looked good for a little while. We just have to be able to extend it. It's frustrating for our upperclassmen. Sometimes they try to do a little bit too much. We just need to be able to trust each other and trust our system and come back again next weekend."

Up Next
The Deacs return to Varsity Arena next weekend as they host Boston College on Friday, Oct. 9, and Syracuse on Sunday, Oct. 11. Notably, the match against Syracuse will serve as the Demon Deacons' annual Heather Kahl Holmes Breast Cancer Awareness Match.

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