Head Coach Jeff Hulsmeyer Earns 300th Career Win, Wake Forest Downs Boston College for First ACC Victory

Friday, October 9

Winston-Salem, N.C.

6:30 p.m.

Wake Forest University

7-9,1-4ACC

Boston College

10-6,1-4ACC

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Boston College	20	25	25	20	12	2
Wake Forest	25	17	22	25	15	3

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Head Coach Jeff Hulsmeyer Earns 300th Career Win, Wake Forest Downs Boston College for First ACC Victory

10/9/2026 11:03:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Graduate student Ryleigh Whitekettle recorded 18 kills against the Eagles, marking her eighth match with 10 or more kills in her last 10 outings.

By: KJ Smith

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Head coach Jeff Hulsmeyer earned his 300th career win as a collegiate head coach as the Wake Forest volleyball team (7-9, 1-4 ACC) defeated Boston College (10-5, 1-4 ACC) in a five-set thriller to secure its first ACC victory of the season on Friday night at Varsity Arena.

Graduate student Ryleigh Whitekettle led the charge for the Demon Deacons as she tallied 18 kills against the Eagles. Whitekettle also notched a team-high seven blocks, three digs and an assist.

With her performance, the Topsail Beach, N.C., native has recorded 10 or more kills in eight of the last 10 matches for the Deacs, totaling 132 kills during that stretch.

Freshman Lyla Stewart continued her stellar freshman campaign as she totaled a 15-kill, 11-dig double-double on Friday night, marking her sixth double-double this season and her fifth in the last six matches.

Senior Andrea Roman surpassed 250 digs for the season as she finished the match with a team-high 15 digs, bringing her season total to 261. Roman also matched her season-high with nine assists against the Eagles.

The Humacao, Puerto Rico, native has been one of the best defensive players in the conference this season, as she currently leads the ACC in total digs.

Redshirt senior Sanaa Williams and redshirt junior Catherine Burke provided a major spark on the defensive end, with Williams notching six blocks and Burke adding four blocks. The two middle blockers also logged solid matches offensively as Williams tallied eight kills and Burke added seven kills.

Elsewhere, junior Becca Bellows matched her season-high with 34 assists to go along with seven digs, a kill and a service ace. Meanwhile, freshman Emma Keeping recorded a 19-assist, 11-dig double-double.

Senior Laiya Ebo and sophomore Amina N'Diaye also provided solid outings off the bench as they both registered seven kills on the night.

How It Happened

The Demon Deacons grabbed the first point of the opening set as freshman Lyla Stewart hammered home a kill.
Wake Forest pushed its lead to 3-1 after back-to-back kills from Stewart and senior Laiya Ebo.
The Deacs rattled off seven straight points to take a five-point lead.
- Sophomore Amina N'Diaye opened the run with her first kill of the match, before Stewart notched another kill to tie the set at 8-8.
- Wake Forest took the lead on a block by graduate student Ryleigh Whitekettle and sophomore Kelis Hawkins.
- Freshman Mattea Saunders extended the lead with a service ace.
- Junior Becca Bellows and Stewart notched back-to-back kills.
- Saunders closed the run with another ace to make it 13-8.
Stewart and redshirt senior Sanaa Williams added kills to give the Demon Deacons a six-point lead heading into the technical timeout.
After Boston College cut Wake Forest's lead down to one, the Deacs went on a four-point swing to push the lead to 24-19.
The Deacs capitalized on an attack error by the Eagles to win the first set, 25-20.
Following an 8-3 run by Boston College to start the second set, Wake Forest rattled off three consecutive points off a pair of errors and a kill by Whitekettle to cut the deficit to two.
Hawkins and Whitekettle logged back-to-back kills to make it 10-8.
Whitekettle and Williams combined on a block to cut the Eagles' lead to four.
Boston College went on a 6-0 run to take a 10-point lead.
Redshirt junior Catherine Burke capped off a three-point swing by the Deacs with a kill to make it 24-17.
The Eagles won the second set, 25-17.
The two sides traded points early in the third set before the Demon Deacons grabbed a 6-5 lead following a three-point surge.
- Burke and sophomore Sadie Poeck blocked a Boston College attack to tie the set before the Deacs grabbed the lead on a kill by senior Laiya Ebo.
Bellows notched a service ace to make it 9-7.
Poeck logged a kill to end a 4-0 run by the Eagles.
Burke and Ebo combined on a block to tie the set.
Whitekettle added her ninth kill of the match to cut the deficit to 23-20.
Boston College won the third set, 25-20.
Whitekettle reached double-digit kills to put the Deacs on the board in the fourth set.
Stewart logged three straight kills for the Demon Deacons to tie the set at 4-4.
The Deacs and the Eagles continued to trade points during the early stages of the fourth set.
Wake Forest went on a six-point surge to take an 18-11 lead.
- Whitekettle opened the run with back-to-back kills.
- Williams added a service ace before a pair of kills from Burke gave the Demon Deacons a six-point lead.
- Stewart capped off the run with her fifth kill of the set.
The Deacs fended off a late push by the Eagles as they won the fourth set, 25-20.
N'Diaye and Williams gave the Demon Deacons a 2-1 lead to open the fifth set.
The Deacs rattled off four straight points to push their lead to 11-8.
- Senior Andrea Roman concluded the run with a service ace.
Whitekettle and Williams combined for a pair of blocks on the final two points of the match as Wake Forest won the fifth set, 15-13.

Standout Stats

Head coach Jeff Hulsmeyer earned his 300th career win on Friday night.
- Hulsmeyer is now 300-187 (.616) over his 14 seasons as a collegiate head coach.

Head Coach Jeff Hulsmeyer's Career Record

School	Seasons	Record	Win Percentage
Western Kentucky	1990-92	74-42	.638
Arkansas State	1993-95	85-27	.759
Purdue	1999-02	44-79	.358
Georgetown College	2007-08	75-14	.843
Wake Forest	2025-present	22-25	.468
Overall	14 Seasons	300-187	.616

Graduate student Ryleigh Whitekettle led the Demon Deacons with 18 kills on Friday night.
- Whitekettle has now recorded 10 or more kills in eight of the last 10 matches, totaling 132 kills during that stretch.
Freshman Lyla Stewart logged her sixth double-double of the season against the Eagles, totaling 15 kills and 11 digs.
- Five of Stewart's six double-doubles have come in the last six matches.
Senior Andrea Roman tallied 15 digs against the Eagles, bringing her season total to 261.
- Roman has now totaled double-digit digs in 15 of Wake Forest's 16 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	261
2.	Payton Petersen	Louisville	241
3.	Ivy Cooper	Virginia Tech	236
4.	Zuzanna Maciejewicz	NC State	230
5.	Maya Evens	Notre Dame	228

Additional Notes

The Demon Deacons are now 20-12 in the all-time series against the Eagles.
The Deacs are now 6-3 in five-set matches this season.
Freshman Emma Keeping eclipsed the 400-assist mark for the season.
Senior Andrea Roman has now recorded more than 250 digs on the season.

From Coach Hulsmeyer
"That was a great team win. We had a lot of people come in and make contributions. I'm just so happy with the way that we settled down late in the match. This team is resilient and I'm so blessed to get a chance to coach them."

Up Next
The Deacs conclude their weekend with their annual Heather Kahl Holmes Breast Cancer Match against Syracuse on Sunday at 1 p.m.

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

Additionally, the Demon Deacons will be auctioning off their match-worn pink jerseys, with all proceeds going to the Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Breast Care Center. Fans can bid on their favorite player's jersey here. The auction is set to close on Monday, Oct. 12, at 11:59 p.m.