Deacs Defeat ETSU in Final Home Nonconference Match

Sunday, September 13

Winston-Salem, N.C.

2 p.m.

Wake Forest University

4-5,0-0ACC

ETSU

1-7,0-0SoCon

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
ETSU	17	25	25	18	7	2
Wake Forest	25	22	23	25	15	3

9/13/2026 5:42:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Graduate student Ryleigh Whitekettle recorded a season-high 19 kills against the Buccaneers, helping her earn DEACTOWN Invitational MVP honors.

By: KJ Smith

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Concluding its seven-match homestand and home nonconference slate, the Wake Forest volleyball team (4-5, 0-0 ACC) defeated ETSU (1-7, 0-0 SoCon) by a final score of 3-2 in its final match of the DEACTOWN Invitational on Sunday afternoon at Varsity Arena.

Graduate student Ryleigh Whitekettle continued her stellar showing at the tournament as she recorded her third consecutive double-digit kill performance. Whitekettle finished the match with a season-high 19 kills while maintaining a .621 attack percentage, along with five digs and two blocks.

Over the course of the three-day tournament, the Topsail Beach, N.C., native posted 48 kills, helping her earn DEACTOWN Invitational MVP honors.

Senior Andrea Roman also earned All-Tournament honors as she recorded a combined 56 digs during the tournament, including 15 digs against the Buccaneers. The Humacao, Puerto Rico, native also added a pair of assists and a pair of service aces on Sunday.

Sophomore Kelis Hawkins logged another solid performance in her second consecutive start, tallying 11 kills and a block. Meanwhile, both senior Laiya Ebo and freshman Lyla Stewart logged nine kills, with Stewart also notching nine digs.

Redshirt senior Sanaa Williams was dominant on the defensive side of the ball, finishing the match with a team-high seven blocks.

Elsewhere, freshman setter Emma Keeping led the Demon Deacons with 29 assists, while fellow freshman Ava Roddey added a career-high 26 assists off the bench.

DEACTOWN Invitational All-Tournament Team

Ryleigh Whitekettle, MVP - Wake Forest
Andrea Roman - Wake Forest
Kai Bailey - ECU
Brooklyn Allison - ECU
Maddie Cugino - Georgia Southern
Beka Pfefferkorn - Georgia Southern
Gianna Blair - ETSU

How It Happened

Sophomore Kelis Hawkins and graduate student Ryleigh Whitekettle logged kills in quick succession to put the Deacs up 2-1 in the first set.
Senior Andrea Roman notched a service ace to put the Demon Deacons back up by two.
Hawkins added another kill before junior Dhru Lalaji logged her first service ace of the match to push the Wake Forest lead to 13-8.
The Deacs regained a five-point lead after a pair of errors by ETSU.
Hawkins extended the Demon Deacon lead to six points with her third kill of the set.
- The Fontana, Calif., native made it 22-15 moments later.
Whitekettle recorded back-to-back kills to put the Demon Deacons on set point.
Wake Forest won the first set, 25-17.
Whitekettle added another kill to put the Deacs up by one early in the second set.
Senior Laiya Ebo tied the set at 5-5.
After trading points, the Demon Deacons went on a three-point spurt to take the lead.
- Whitekettle and Hawkins both tallied kills in the run.
The two sides continued to trade points until Ebo put the Deacs ahead with another kill.
Following a long run by the Buccaneers, Whitekettle tallied her fifth kill of the set to move the Demon Deacons within one.
ETSU took the second set, 25-22.
Hawkins and freshman Lyla Stewart both tallied kills to give Wake Forest an early lead in the third set.
After a long spurt by the Bucs, the Demon Deacons took advantage of multiple errors to move within one midway through the set.
Ebo tied the set at 15-15 with another kill.
Redshirt senior Sanaa Williams and freshman Emma Keeping combined on a block to tie the set at 21-21.
The Buccaneers won the third set, 25-23.
After falling behind early in the fourth set, the Demon Deacons went on a 3-0 run to take the lead powered by back-to-back aces by Williams.
The Deacs extended their lead to 12-8 following a block by Whitekettle and Williams.
- Whitekettle logged her 13th kill of the match on the previous point.
  - The Topsail Beach, N.C., native added two more kills to give Wake Forest a seven-point lead moments later.
The Demon Deacons won the fourth set, 25-18, on a kill by Williams.
Wake Forest opened the fifth set on a 5-1 run.
- Roman added a service ace before Williams notched a pair of block assists to push the lead to four points.
The Deacs took advantage of multiple ETSU errors to make it 11-3.
Whitekettle closed the set with back-to-back kills as the Demon Deacons won the final set, 15-7.

Standout Stats

Ryleigh Whitekettle notched her third consecutive double-digit kill performance and her sixth of the season as she set a season-high with 19 kills on Sunday.
- The Topsail Beach, N.C., native leads the team with 111 kills and is currently averaging 2.77 kills per set.
  - Whitekettle recorded 48 kills (3.69 per set) during the DEACTOWN Invitational.

Date	Opponent	Kills
8/28/26	LSU	18
9/4/26	Davidson	10
9/6/26	Georgetown	13
9/11/26	East Carolina	13
9/12/26	Georgia Southern	16
9/13/26	ETSU	19

Sophomore Kelis Hawkins tallied 11 kills in her second consecutive start.
Senior libero Andrea Roman also earned All-Tournament honors as she recorded a combined 56 digs over the three matches, including 15 against the Bucs.

Additional Notes

The Demon Deacons improved to 4-2 all-time against the Buccaneers.
- This marked the first matchup between Wake Forest and ETSU since the 2013 season.
Since the start of the 2019 season, the Deacs have posted a 54-21 record against nonconference opponents.
- Additionally, Wake Forest has gone 21-6 at Varsity Arena against nonconference opponents during that span.
With the win, Wake Forest is now 4-1 in five-set matches this season.

From Coach Hulsmeyer
"Another great win today. Another great fifth set. We put ourselves in a position with our backs against the wall and we responded. Now we need to figure out how to do that a little bit sooner. I'm really proud of the way they responded. Ava Roddey had a great weekend stepping in and playing. Laiya Ebo also played well this weekend. We also had a lot of great contributions these past couple of matches from Kelis Hawkins."

Up Next
The Demon Deacons close out nonconference play next week as they travel to Greensboro, N.C., to face NC A&T on Thursday, Sept. 17 at 5:30 p.m., before taking on Wofford on Friday, Sept. 18 at 4 p.m. in High Point.

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