Demon Deacons Down Cougars in Five-Set Thriller for First Win of the Season

Saturday, August 29

Baton Rouge, La.

2 p.m.

Wake Forest University

1-1,0-0ACC

Houston

1-1,0-0Big 12

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Wake Forest	17	25	21	25	15	3
Houston	25	18	25	22	11	2

Demon Deacons Down Cougars in Five-Set Thriller for First Win of the Season

8/29/2026 5:58:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Senior Patrycja Lagida notched her first double-double of the season as she finished with 14 kills and 13 digs.

By: KJ Smith

BATON ROUGE, La. – After dropping a five-set match the night before, the Wake Forest volleyball team (1-1, 0-0 ACC) bounced back as they earned a 3-2 victory over Houston (1-1, 0-0 Big 12) on Saturday afternoon at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

Senior outside hitter Patrycja Lagida powered the Demon Deacons as she recorded her first double-double of the season. The Chotomow, Poland, native ended the match with 14 kills and 13 digs while also finishing with a .290 attack percentage.

Graduate student right-side hitter Ryleigh Whitekettle continued her dominant play as she led the Deacs with six total blocks against the Cougars. The Topsail Beach, N.C., native also added seven kills and a dig.

Redshirt senior Sanaa Williams and redshirt junior Catherine Burke both tallied four blocks in the afternoon, with Williams adding nine kills and four digs.

Overall, the Deacs combined for nine blocks, bringing their total over the course of the first two matches of the season to 25 blocks.

Elsewhere, freshman setter Emma Keeping logged a team-high 24 assists, while junior Becca Bellows added 23 assists of her own. Additionally, the duo combined for five of Wake Forest's eight service aces.

Meanwhile, freshman outside hitter Lyla Stewart recorded her first double-digit kill performance of her collegiate career, finishing the match with 11 kills. The Powell, Ohio, native also added three digs, two assists and a service ace.

How It Happened

The Demon Deacons got on the board first as sophomore outside hitter Amine N'Diaye recorded a kill.
Sophomore Kelis Hawkins notched a pair of kills to make it 3-3.
The Deacs pushed their lead to two points following a pair of Houston errors.
Senior libero Andrea Roman recorded a service ace to make it 7-5 early.
The Cougars went on an 11-5 run.
Graduate student Ryleigh Whitekettle notched her first kill of the match to cut the deficit to four points.
Houston took the opening set, 25-17.
The Deacs and the Cougars traded points in the early moments of the second set.
After Houston moved within a point, the Demon Deacons went on an 8-2 run to end the second set and tie the match at 1-1.
- Freshman outside hitter Lyla Stewart tallied three of her 11 kills during the run.
Stewart picked up where she left off in the second set as she notched the opening point of the third.
After Houston pushed its lead to seven points, Wake Forest rattled off three straight points to make it 15-11.
- The Deacs added a three-point spurt moments later to cut the deficit down to three points, highlighted by a kill by redshirt senior Sanaa Williams.
Houston took the third set, 25-21.
Wake Forest opened the fourth set on a 5-2 run.
- Senior outside hitter Patrycja Lagida logged a pair of kills.
- Whitekettle and redshirt junior Catherine Burke added a block to put the Demon Deacons up by three.
The Deacs continued to cruise as they recorded a four-point spurt entering a media timeout.
- Junior Becca Bellows logged back-to-back aces during the stretch.
Burke slammed home a pair of kills while also recording a block alongside Whitekettle to give the Deacs an 18-9 advantage.
Wake Forest fended off a late Houston rally to claim the fourth set, 25-22.
Burke and Whitekettle combined once again for a block to give the Deacs an early two-point lead in the fifth set.
After the Cougars took a 6-5 lead, the Demon Deacons went on a 7-0 run to push the lead to six points.
- Lagida tallied three kills during the run, while Williams added two kills of her own.
Wake Forest fended off another late run by Houston to take the fifth set by a score of 15-11 and secure its first victory of the season.

Standout Stats

Whitekettle led the Demon Deacons in blocks for the second consecutive match.
- Over the course of the two matches, the Topsail Beach, N.C., native recorded 16 blocks.
The Demon Deacons combined for nine total blocks against the Cougars, bringing their total to 25 in the first two matches of the season.
- The Demon Deacons led their opponents in blocks 25-16 over the two matches.
Lagida notched her first double-double of the 2026 season, finishing with 14 kills and 13 digs.
Stewart recorded her first double-digit kill performance of her collegiate career.
The Demon Deacons led the Cougars in service aces, 8-6.

Additional Notes

This marked Wake Forest's first win over Houston in program history.
- Wake Forest and Houston had met twice prior to Saturday's match, with the most recent meeting coming in the 2014 season.
Since the start of the 2019 campaign, the Deacs have recorded a 51-17 record versus non-conference opponents.

From Coach Hulsmeyer
"So excited for the team. To come back and have to play another five-set match just shows how gutsy they are. They continued to step up there. I know that they were tired. You could definitely see the ups and downs of our team, but they battled back and stayed with it. Being able to take that fifth set was a true sentiment to our strength and conditioning team, as well as our nutrition team, for how well they have prepared our team. We have to keep this momentum going into next weekend."

Up Next
The Demon Deacons open their home slate next weekend as they host the Wake Forest Invitational from Sept. 4-6 at Varsity Arena. The Deacs will face Davidson on Friday at 6:30 p.m., UCF on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. and Georgetown on Sunday at 2 p.m.

All matches are free for spectators and will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.

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