Oct. 14, 2002
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The Wake Forest volleyball team (9-10, 3-3 ACC) returns home this week for three conference matches at Reynolds Gym. The Demon Deacons will face Clemson (13-8, 4-2) at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday night, No. 20 Georgia Tech (19-3, 5-1) at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday and then take on Florida State (12-6, 4-2) at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday.
The Demon Deacons rallied to beat Liberty in five games last Tuesday before splitting a pair of ACC matches on the road, losing 3-0 at #11 North Carolina on Friday and then winning 3-1 at NC State on Saturday.
Wake Forest's win at NC State on Saturday, gave head coach Valorie Baker her 50th career victory, all at the helm of the Demon Deacons. In just her third season as head coach, Baker's record now stands at 50-30.
The Deacs used a balanced attack last week, as somebody different led the squad each match. Senior setter Ashlee Phillips hit .571 over the 12 games, recording 19 kills, 136 assists, five service aces, 21 digs and nine blocks. The school's all-time leader in assists, Phillips is ranked sixth in the ACC this season with 11.31 assists per game and third with a .359 attack percentage. Phillips is averaging 11.84 assists per conference game.
Freshman middle blocker Christy Williams put away 34 kills over 11 games last week to go with a team-best 12 blocks. Having a huge match against Liberty, Williams led the club with 19 kills and 12 blocks, including a school-record breaking 10 block assists.
Kim Stern and Sarah Beth DeLisle each had 35 kills over the 12 games last week. Stern, a sophomore middle blocker, caught fire at NC State, racking up 18 kills and seven blocks. DeLisle, a junior outside hitter, put down 13 kills against #11 North Carolina to go with eight digs.
Redshirt freshman outside hitter Valerie Rydberg led the team with 30 digs over 12 games last week. She also had 31 kills and three service aces in those three matches. Rydberg hit better than .400 against both North Carolina and NC State, registering 13 kills at both places.
Wake Forest trails in the series with Clemson 14-4. Georgia Tech holds an 11-6 advantage in the series with the Demon Deacons and Florida State leads Wake 12-3, including a 3-1 defeat in Tallahassee on Sept. 27. The Yellow Jackets and the Seminoles both stop in Durham to take on Duke before arriving in Winston-Salem and FSU will also play Florida A&M first.
