Stewart Records Career Night, Deacs Fall in Five Sets to Duke in ACC Opener

Friday, September 25

Winston-Salem, N.C.

6:30 p.m.

Wake Forest University

6-6,0-1ACC

Duke

9-2,1-0ACC

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Duke	22	29	25	23	15	3
Wake Forest	25	27	18	25	10	2

PDF Box Score

Stewart Records Career Night, Deacs Fall in Five Sets to Duke in ACC Opener

9/25/2026 10:23:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Freshman Lyla Stewart logged career-highs in both kills and digs, finishing with a 19-kill, 16-dig double-double against the Duke Devils.

By: KJ Smith

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Despite a career night by freshman Lyla Stewart, the Wake Forest volleyball team (6-6, 0-1 ACC) dropped its ACC opener in five sets to Duke (9-2, 1-0 ACC) on Friday night at Varsity Arena.

Stewart led the Demon Deacons offensively as she recorded career-highs in both kills and digs. The Powell, Ohio, native finished the match with 19 kills and 16 digs to secure her second consecutive double-double. She also added a service ace and a pair of blocks.

Stewart has caught fire offensively over her last five matches, totaling 75 kills, including four matches with double-digit kills. Additionally, Stewart now leads the Demon Deacons with 2.95 kills per set.

Graduate student Ryleigh Whitekettle continued her stellar start to the season as she tallied 11 kills to go along with a dig and two blocks.

Freshman Emma Keeping notched her fourth double-double of the season, totaling 24 assists and a career-high 14 digs. Meanwhile, junior Becca Bellows tallied 21 assists, three digs and a service ace in her first match since Sept. 4, against Davidson.

Redshirt senior Sanaa Williams led the Deacs defensively as she recorded a career-high 11 blocks, including one solo effort and 10 assisted blocks, as well as five kills. Williams has now recorded 54 total blocks this season and is averaging 1.04 blocks per set, both of which lead the team.

Meanwhile, senior Andrea Roman recorded 10 digs to go along with five assists and a service ace. The Humacao, Puerto Rico, native has been a force defensively this season, having totaled 211 digs this season, which leads the ACC. Additionally, her 3.98 digs per set ranks fourth in the conference.

How It Happened

Graduate student Ryleigh Whitekettle put the Deacs on the board first in the first set with a kill.
The Demon Deacons rattled off four straight points to build their lead to 7-2.
- Freshman Lyla Stewart logged her first two kills of the match to cap the run.
Wake Forest capitalized on a pair of Duke errors to push its lead to six points.
Redshirt senior Sanaa Williams logged a solo block to make it 14-10.
- The Nashville, Tenn., native combined with Whitekettle on a block on the next rally.
After the Blue Devils cut the lead to one, Stewart notched back-to-back kills to close the first set.
- The Demon Deacons won the first set, 25-22.
Following a short run by the Blue Devils, the Deacs responded with a 4-0 run to take a one-point lead early in the second set.
- Senior Andrea Roman placed a serve perfectly for an ace before Stewart added her seventh kill of the match to tie it at 3-3.
- Williams and Stewart combined on a block to give Wake Forest the lead.
The Deacs added another four-point surge moments later to reclaim a two-point lead after a Duke run.
The two sides traded points before Wake Forest jumped out to a 21-18 lead following a solo block by sophomore Amina N'Diaye.
After the Blue Devils took the lead, the Demon Deacons rallied to earn a set point.
- Stewart notched her 11th kill to make it 24-23.
Duke won the second set, 29-27.
The Demon Deacons responded to an early three-point surge from the Blue Devils to tie the third set at 5-5.
- Junior Becca Bellows added a service ace while Whitekettle logged a pair of kills during the spurt.
The Blue Devils pushed their lead to 16-10 before Whitekettle logged her third kill of the set.
Duke won the third set, 25-18.
Stewart opened the fourth set with another kill.
The Blue Devils took a five-point lead heading into the technical timeout.
N'Diaye and fellow sophomore Kelis Hawkins recorded a block to cap off a three-point surge and cut the deficit to 16-14.
Wake Forest scored six straight points to take a three-point lead late in the set.
- Stewart logged her 18th kill of the match to move the Demon Deacons within one.
- The Powell, Ohio, native would combine on a block with Williams to make it 22-19.
N'Diaye hammered home another kill to give the Deacs the 25-23 win in the fourth set.
The Deacs jumped out to a 4-1 lead to open the fifth set.
After Duke took a three-point lead, Stewart recorded her career-high 19th kill to cut the deficit to 11-9.
The Blue Devils won the fifth set, 15-10.

Standout Stats

Freshman Lyla Stewart recorded her second consecutive double-double as she finished the match with career-highs in both kills (19) and digs (16).
- Stewart eclipsed the 100-kill mark this season and has now logged 75 kills over her last five matches.
- The Powell, Ohio, native leads the Demon Deacons with 2.95 kills per set.
Redshirt senior Sanaa Williams logged a career-high 11 blocks on Friday night.
- The Nashville, Tenn., native leads the Deacs with 54 total blocks and an average of 1.04 blocks per set.
Senior Andrea Roman tallied 10 digs against the Blue Devils, bringing her season total to 211 digs.
- Roman has now tallied double-digit digs in all 12 matches this season.
- The Humacao, Puerto Rico, native leads the ACC in total digs and ranks fourth in digs per set.

ACC Digs Leaders

Rank	Name	School	Total Digs
1.	Andrea Roman	Wake Forest	211
2.	Payton Petersen	Louisville	191
3.	Zuzanna Maciejewicz	NC State	175
4.	Maya Evens	Notre Dame	174
5.	Ivy Cooper	Virginia Tech	166

ACC Digs Per Set Leaders

Rank	Name	School	Digs Per Set
1.	Ivy Cooper	Virginia Tech	4.61
2.	Maya Evens	Notre Dame	4.46
3.	Payton Petersen	Louisville	4.34
4.	Andrea Roman	Wake Forest	3.98
5.	Zuzanna Maciejewicz	NC State	3.80

From Coach Hulsmeyer
"Tough one tonight. We battled back, but we just couldn't finish. We just have to be able to execute. We're used to those fifth sets. We started off strong, but again, we have to execute over time. We have to take another step forward as we come back against North Carolina on Sunday."

Up Next
The Deacs continue conference play on Sunday, Sept. 27, as they host Big Four rival No. 24 North Carolina at 4 p.m.

Admission is free for all spectators, and the match will be broadcast nationally on ACC Network.