Aug. 30, 2008

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WINSTON-SALEM - Wake Forest picked up its second straight three-set sweep, this time downing Norfolk State 25-11, 25-8 and 25-17 on the second day of the Deacon Invitational. The win sets up a championship match with fellow unbeaten Winthrop at 7 p.m.

Sophomores Kristen White, Lauren McIntyre and freshman Carlin Salmon led the Wake Forest (2-0) attack with six kills apiece. The Deacs were able to get a number of players into the action as 14 different players got their name in the scorebook.

Sophomore setter Kelsey Jones dished out 27 assists and was relieved by freshman Maggie Hoey, who saw her first action as a collegian, recording a pair of assists.

Freshmen Mary-Katherine Taylor and Madison Vain also made their collegiate debut this afternoon. Vain picked up a pair of kills and also dished out an assist.

The duo of Megan Thornberry and Abby Miller led the Deacs defensively, recording 15 and 10 digs, respectively.

Wake Forest raced out to an early 8-2 lead in the first set behind three kills from White and two kills from McIntyre. Another kill by White made the score 10-3 and then four straight Norfolk State (0-2) errors made the score 14-3. The Spartans could never recover and Wake would take the first set 25-11.

For the second straight match, the Wake Forest (2-0) defense was strong, holding the Spartans to a -.065 hitting percentage while the Deacs hit a solid .387 as a team. Norfolk State (0-2) had 27 attack errors to just 21 kills.

The second set was the worst set of the day for the Spartans offensively as they had just three kills compared to 11 hitting errors. The Deacs jumped out to a 9-2 lead and never looked back, winning the second set 25-8. Graduate student Natalie Mullikin started the set by serving for seven straight points. Salmon added three kills in the set while Mullikin, White, McIntyre and freshman Cambrey Oehler all had two kills.

The third set started out more competitive as the Deacons found themselves leading just 8-7 early on. But back-to-back kills from Salmon and a nice kill by Jones sparked an 8-3 run for Wake. The Spartan offense never got on track all day and the Deacs used solid defending and good passing the close out the third match 25-17.

Wake also did a better job at the net against the Spartans, finishing with a total of six team blocks. McIntyre, White and freshman Kadija Fornah all recorded a block solo while McIntyre also added three block assists.

In the first match of the day, Winthrop got 14 kills from the reigning Big South Player of the Year Shannon Sitzmann to take care of Davidson in three sets.

The Deacon Invitational will wrap up with Davidson squaring off with Norfolk State at 4:30 p.m. and then Winthrop will take on Wake Forest in the championship match at 7 p.m.