Wake Forest Claims Five-Set Thriller Over Georgia Southern

Saturday, September 12

Winston-Salem, N.C.

5 p.m.

Wake Forest University

3-5,0-0ACC

Georgia Southern

4-4,0-0Sun Belt

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Ga. Southern	23	25	28	23	13	2
Wake Forest	25	20	26	25	15	3

Wake Forest Claims Five-Set Thriller Over Georgia Southern

9/12/2026 8:47:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Four Demon Deacons recorded double-digit kills in the win over the Eagles.

By: KJ Smith

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Led by four Demon Deacons with double-digit kills, the Wake Forest volleyball team earned a five-set victory over Georgia Southern in its second match of the DEACTOWN Invitational on Saturday evening at Varsity Arena.

Freshman Lyla Stewart led the Demon Deacons (3-5, 0-0 ACC) in kills as she tallied a career-high 18 kills to go along with eight digs and two blocks against the Eagles (4-4, 0-0 Sun Belt).

Graduate student Ryleigh Whitekettle reached double-digit kills for the second consecutive match as she recorded 16 kills, as well as four digs and a pair of blocks. The Topsail Beach, N.C., native has logged five matches with more than 10 kills and has recorded 29 kills in the past two matches.

Senior Laiya Ebo provided a major spark off the bench as she tallied a season-high 12 kills, as well as two blocks and an assist. Meanwhile, redshirt senior Sanaa Williams also eclipsed double-digit kills, finishing the match with 10 kills to pair with three blocks.

Elsewhere, the freshman duo of Emma Keeping and Ava Roddey combined for 61 assists, with Keeping totaling 37 assists and Roddey adding a career-high 24 assists. Additionally, Roddey recorded her first career double-double as she logged 19 digs. Keeping also logged a double-double as she notched 12 digs.

Meanwhile, sophomore Kelis Hawkins totaled nine kills and a team-high five blocks in her second start of the season. Senior libero Andrea Roman also matched her season-high with 26 digs against the Eagles, while junior Dhru Lalaji logged a career-high 16 digs and a pair of service aces.

How It Happened

Graduate student Ryleigh Whitekettle opened the scoring with a kill.
After trading points early, the Demon Deacons pushed their lead to 11-7 with a four-point scoring spurt.
Freshman Lyla Stewart tied the set at 14-14 following a run by the Eagles.
- The Powell, Ohio, native gave the Demon Deacons a two-point lead moments later with another kill.
Sophomore Kelis Hawkins made it 21-18 with her third kill of the set, capping a four-point swing for the Deacs.
Wake Forest took advantage of multiple attack errors to go up by two points in the final moments of the first set.
Whitekettle closed out the first set with her third kill as Wake Forest won the opening set, 25-23.
- The Topsail Beach, N.C., native picked up right where she left off as she logged two quick kills in the opening stages of the second set.
Whitekettle and redshirt senior Sanaa Williams traded back-to-back kills to move the Deacs within one.
- The duo would combine for three more kills later in the set to make it 23-20.
Georgia Southern took the second set, 25-20.
Following a 3-0 run by the Eagles to open the third, the Demon Deacons rattled off three straight points of their own to tie it at 3-3.
- Stewart, Hawkins and sophomore Amina N'Diaye tallied kills during the run.
The Deacs went on a four-point swing to grab a three-point lead, highlighted by a block from Williams and N'Diaye.
Whitekettle and senior Laiya Ebo logged kills on back-to-back rallies to make it 13-9.
Following a long run by Georgia Southern, Wake Forest tied the set at 18-18 on a kill by Ebo.
- The Washington, D.C., native added another kill moments later before Williams recorded a service ace to move the Deacs within a point.
Junior Dhru Lalaji tied the set at 24-24 with a service ace to cap off a 3-0 run by the Demon Deacons.
The Eagles won the third set, 28-26.
Lalaji notched another service ace to put the Deacs up by three to open the fourth set.
The Demon Deacons pushed their lead to four points following multiple Georgia Southern errors.
Williams and Stewart combined on a block to make it 8-3 and force an Eagle timeout.
Hawkins logged a kill and a block to push the Wake Forest lead to five points once again.
After Georgia Southern went on a long run to take a two-point lead, the Deacs rattled off four straight points to make it 19-17.
Stewart hammered home her third kill of the set to give Wake Forest the 25-23 win and force a fifth set.
Hawkins notched the first point of the final set.
Wake Forest and Georgia Southern traded points before Georgia Southern took a 13-12 lead.
The Demon Deacons rattled off three straight points to win the set, 15-13, and earn the 3-2 win over the Eagles.
- N'Diaye recorded the final two kills of the match for the Deacs.

Standout Stats

Four Demon Deacons finished the match with 10 or more kills.
- Lyla Stewart - 18 kills
- Ryleigh Whitekettle - 16 kills
- Laiya Ebo - 12 kills
- Sanaa Williams - 10 kills
Freshman Ava Roddey recorded her first career double-double, finishing the match with 24 assists and 19 digs.
The Deacs logged a .424 attack percentage in the first set.

Additional Notes

The Demon Deacons improved to 4-2 all-time against the Eagles.
- This marked the first matchup between Wake Forest and Georgia Southern since the 2018 season.
Since the start of the 2019 season, the Deacs have posted a 53-21 record against nonconference opponents.

From Coach Hulsmeyer
"I'm really proud of the effort and the way the team bounced back from yesterday. That's the type of grit and determination that we're going to have to play with every night. We can still get better. There were a lot of execution things that we could improve on, but with that kind of effort, we can do a lot. I'm just so proud of the team and the way they played tonight."

Up Next
The Demon Deacons close out their home nonconference schedule tomorrow afternoon as they face ETSU in the final match of the DEACTOWN Invitational at 2 p.m.

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

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