Demon Deacons Fall to East Carolina in DEACTOWN Invitational Opener

Friday, September 11

Winston-Salem, N.C.

6:30 p.m.

Wake Forest University

2-5,0-0ACC

East Carolina

5-2,0-0American

Team	1	2	3	Final F
East Carolina	25	25	25	3
Wake Forest	18	23	11	0

Demon Deacons Fall to East Carolina in DEACTOWN Invitational Opener

9/11/2026 8:53:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Graduate student Ryleigh Whitekettle recorded double-digit kills for the fourth time this season, finishing with 13 kills.

By: KJ Smith

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Wake Forest volleyball team (2-5, 0-0 ACC) dropped its opening match of the DEACTOWN Invitational to East Carolina (5-2, 0-0 American) by a score of 3-0 on Friday night at Varsity Arena.

Graduate student Ryleigh Whitekettle led the Demon Deacons with 13 kills, including eight kills during the second set. Whitekettle also added a dig and a service ace against the Pirates.

This marked the Topsail Beach, N.C., native's fourth match with double-digit kills this season, having previously logged 18 kills at LSU, 10 kills against Davidson and 13 kills against Georgetown.

Elsewhere, freshman Emma Keeping logged a team-high 21 assists, three digs and a kill, while fellow freshman Ava Roddey tallied seven assists, four digs and a service ace.

Meanwhile, senior Andrea Roman tallied 15 digs to lead the Deacs.

How It Happened

Freshman Lyla Stewart put the Deacs on the board as she placed a kill just over the net.
Graduate student Ryleigh Whitekettle ended a 5-0 run by the Pirates with her first kill of the night to cut the deficit to four.
- Whitekettle added a service ace on her ensuing serve to make it 6-3.
Redshirt senior Sanaa Williams and sophomore Amina N'Diaye added back-to-back kills to put the Deacs within two.
The Pirates pushed their lead to 13-6 before N'Diaye registered another kill.
Stewart notched a service ace to move the Demon Deacons back within four.
East Carolina took the first set, 25-18.
The Demon Deacons opened the second set on a 4-0 run.
- N'Diaye, Williams and freshman Emma Keeping all tallied kills during the opening spurt.
After the Pirates took the lead, the Deacs rattled off five points in a row to make it 11-8.
- Whitekettle recorded three of Wake Forest's five kills during the run.
Stewart added a pair of kills to help the Demon Deacons tie the set at 16-16.
Whitekettle recorded her eighth kill of the second set to cut the ECU lead to one late in the set.
The Pirates won the second set, 25-23.
Sophomore Kelis Hawkins ended a 3-0 run by East Carolina to open the third set.
The Deacs cut the deficit to 12-6 following a service ace by Stewart.
N'Diaye ended a seven-point stretch by the Pirates with her fourth kill of the match.
Hawkins logged her third kill of the match to make it 22-11.
The Pirates claimed the third set, 25-11.

Standout Stats

Graduate student Ryleigh Whitekettle led the Demon Deacons with 13 kills against the Pirates.
- Eight of Whitekettle's kills came during the second set.
- This marked the Topsail Beach, N.C., native's fourth match with double-digit kills this season.

Date	Opponent	Kills
8/28/26	LSU	18
9/4/26	Davidson	10
9/6/26	Georgetown	13
9/11/26	East Carolina	13

From Coach Hulsmeyer
"I really feel that we owe our fans an apology for that performance tonight. It's not what we're about. It's not what we are capable of doing. We have to own it now and we have to get back to the right side of things. Sometimes you have to hit bottom to go up. We have to turn some things around. It starts tonight and continues tomorrow. We'll be working to be better tomorrow."

Up Next
Wake Forest continues action at the DEACTOWN Invitational tomorrow as it hosts Georgia Southern tomorrow afternoon at 5 p.m.

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

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