Sept. 11, 2004

Knoxville, Tenn. - KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The Wake Forest volleyball team suffered its first loss of the season, falling to Tennessee, 3-0 (21-30, 24-30, 15-30) in the first round of the Domino's Pizza Lady Vols Classic. The Deacs are now 3-1 on the season and will look to rebound tomorrow as they face #24 Purdue at 11 a.m.

In game one, neither squad grabbed greater than a three-point lead, until the Lady Vols came to the serving line leading, 11-8. Tennessee then went on to score seven more points to grab an 18-9 lead. Wake Forest could get no closer than seven the rest of the game, despite three kills and three assists from junior Erin Borhart.

Game two saw Wake Forest take control early, jumping out to a 10-5 advantage, highlighted by three kills from Valerie Rydberg. Unfortunately, UT came back with a 15-5 run to take a 20-15 lead, eventually closing out the game, 30-24. After the Demon Deacons took a 3-0 lead in game three, the Lady Vols were able to come back and pull away, closing the match 30-15.

Rydberg led the Deacs both offensively and defensively with nine digs and nine kills. Borhart put up 24 assists, while Christy Williams found three block assists and five digs. For the Lady Vols, Kristen Andre notched a game-high 16 kills, while Julie Knytych found 44 assists.