Deacs Battle Mississippi State in “Showdown at the Net” ACC/SEC Challenge

Tuesday, September 8

Winston-Salem, N.C.

6:30 p.m.

Wake Forest University

2-4,0-0ACC

Mississippi State

5-1,0-0SEC

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Mississippi St.	25	25	21	25	3
Wake Forest	18	14	25	18	1

Deacs Battle Mississippi State in “Showdown at the Net” ACC/SEC Challenge

9/8/2026 9:31:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Wake Forest concludes its seven-match homestand this weekend at the DEACTOWN Invitational.

By: KJ Smith

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Wake Forest volleyball team dropped a 3-1 decision to Mississippi State in the "Showdown at the Net" ACC/SEC Challenge on Tuesday night at Varsity Arena.

Freshman Lyla Stewart led the Demon Deacons (2-4, 0-0 ACC) as she recorded her first career double-double. The Powell, Ohio, native finished the match with a team-high 13 kills and 15 digs in her return to the lineup.

Fellow freshman Emma Keeping also notched a double-double against the Bulldogs (5-1, 0-0 SEC), totaling 31 assists and 11 digs.

Sophomore Amina N'Diaye totaled nine kills, while redshirt senior Sanaa Williams and redshirt junior Catherine Burke logged eight kills each.

Burke and Williams also added solid performances on the defensive end, with Burke recording a team-high five blocks and Williams registering three block assists on the night.

Meanwhile, senior Andrea Roman recorded a team-high 20 digs, along with two assists and a service ace.

How It Happened

Redshirt junior Catherine Burke capped off a long rally with a kill to put the Deacs on the board.
The Deacs jumped out to an early 3-1 lead following a kill by graduate student Ryleigh Whitekettle.
Wake Forest and Mississippi State traded points before redshirt senior Sanaa Williams recorded a kill to give Wake Forest a two-point lead.
After a short run by the Bulldogs, the Demon Deacons tied the set at 13-13 after kills by redshirt junior Catherine Burke and Lyla Stewart.
Williams ended a short run by the Bulldogs to cut the deficit down to two.
Burke added her third kill of the set to make it 23-18.
Mississippi State took the first set, 25-18.
The Deacs grabbed the opening point of the second set on a kill by Whitekettle.
Freshman Emma Keeping placed an attack over the net to make it 6-4.
Williams and sophomore Amina N'Diaye logged back-to-back kills to put the Demon Deacons within five.
The Bulldogs won the second set, 25-14.
Wake Forest opened the third set on a 6-1 run.
- Stewart recorded a pair of kills during the spurt.
- Freshman Ava Roddey capped off the run with a service ace to put the Deacs up by five.
After Mississippi State tied the set at 20-20, the Demon Deacons rattled off four straight to reach set point.
- Stewart added two more kills during the run.
Williams recorded her third kill of the set to end the third set and keep the Deacs in the match.
Stewart logged three kills in the opening moments of the fourth set to move into double digits for the match.
After a short run by the Bulldogs, the Deacs cut the deficit to 12-9 off another kill from Stewart.
Mississippi State pushed the lead to 20-11.
The Demon Deacons made a short run toward the end of the match to cut the deficit down to four, highlighted by kills from Williams and sophomore Sadie Poeck.
Mississippi State won the fourth set, 25-18, as the Deacs fell by a final score of 3-1.

Standout Stats

Freshmen Lyla Stewart and Emma Keeping recorded double-doubles against the Bulldogs.
- In her return to the lineup, Stewart notched a team-high 13 kills and a career-high 15 digs for her first career double-double.
- Keeping tallied 31 assists and 11 digs on Tuesday night.
The Demon Deacons logged eight blocks against Mississippi State.
- Redshirt junior Catherine Burke led the team with five blocks, including one solo effort.
- Redshirt senior Sanaa Williams added three block assists against her former team.

From Coach Hulsmeyer
"It makes it tough with all the different lineups that we're having to do. I appreciate that everyone is trying to manage the situation and play wherever, but a lot of times it gets chaotic. It took us a little while to settle down tonight. I appreciate the effort of our players that came off the bench. Sadie Poeck did a great job of bringing some energy. It was good to see Ava [Roddey] get back out there again and get a few reps in. We just have to continue to get better because this is not good enough. This is not where we're going to be as we get closer to conference play."

Up Next
The Demon Deacons close out their seven-match homestand as they host the DEACTOWN Invitational from Sept. 11-13. The Deacs will face in-state rival East Carolina on Friday at 6:30 p.m., Georgia Southern on Saturday at 5 p.m. and ETSU on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Admission is free, and all three of Wake Forest's matches will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.

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