Nov. 12, 2008

Box Score | Box Score in PDF Format

RALEIGH, N.C. - Redshirt sophomore Kate Rodriguez came off the bench and gave the Demon Deacons a stellar performance in a thrilling four-set victory over NC State Wednesday evening in Reynolds Coliseum. The Deacs held on for a 19-25, 25-15, 25-20 and 31-29 victory.

Rodriguez was given an opportunity tonight and made the most of it, posting career-highs of four service aces, 11 digs and two assists to go along with six kills.

The win improves the Deacons to 17-11 on the season and 8-8 in the ACC. The 17 wins are the most since the team posted 17 wins in 2005.

The Deacon victory was also the 21st straight over the Wolfpack, who now falls to 9-22 on the season and 3-13 in the conference.

Graduate student Natalie Mullikin and freshman Kadija Fornah both lead the Deacs with 14 kills on the evening. Senior Ashley Homitz added 13 kills, which was only one shy of her career-high.

Despite suffering from flu-like symptoms, sophomore setter Kelsey Jones dished out 52 assists on the night, which was her most in a four-set match this season.

Defensively, libero Megan Thornberry led the Demon Deacons with 17 digs while junior Sally Fischer chipped in with 10.

Mullikin also added a total of five blocks on the night and is now just four block assists away from breaking Margaret Davidson's career record of 388.

For the Wolfpack, Arlee Tamietti posted a double-double with a team-high 14 kills and 11 digs. Aiwane Iboaya and Isis Gardner each chipped in with 10 kills a piece. Libero Kelly Wood led the team with 12 digs.

The Wolfpack jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the first set but redshirt sophomore Kate Rodriguez, playing in just her fourth match this season, ended the run with her second kill of the season.

After an NC State kill made it 6-1, the Deacs reeled off seven-straight points on three errors from NCST and kills from Mullikin, McIntyre and back-to-back kills from Fornah.

The Pack would respond with an 8-3 run of its own to take a 14-11 lead and they would never look back. Another 3-0 run pushed the NCST lead to 19-13 and the Wolfpack would hold the six-point advantage the rest of the set, winning 25-19.

Rodriguez finished the set with four digs and a pair of kills while Fornah added four kills and hit .444. Isis Gardner led the Pack with six kills on 11 attempts.

Thanks to three straight service aces from Rodriguez, the Deacs started the second set with a 4-1 lead but a 4-0 run by NCST would give the lead right back to the Pack at 5-4. The score stayed fairly close until a 7-3 run by the Deacons allowed them to open up a 16-13 advantage. Mullikin had a pair of huge block solos during the run.

State pulled to within two at 17-15 but that's when a kill from Jones sparked an 8-0 Wake Forest run to end the set 25-15. Fornah and McIntyre each had a pair of kills and Thornberry added her tenth service ace of the season during the spurt.

The Deacs hit a respectable .375 in the second set while forcing the Wolfpack into five errors and just seven kills.

The third set started out even and with the score tied at 5-5, the Deacs went on a 6-1 run to take an 11-6 lead and forcing NCST to burn its first timeout. Rodriguez had a pair of kills during the run.

Coming out of the timeout, the Deacons continued the run, scoring five out of the next seven points to take a commanding 16-8 advantage.

Wake ultimately opened up a ten-point edge at 22-12 but an 8-2 Wolfpack run would bring them with four at 24-20. The Deacs settled in and closed out the set with a kill from Fornah to take a two sets to one lead.

Homitz had five kills in the third set while Mullikin chipped in with four. Fischer also collected a total of seven digs in a set where Wake forced the Wolfpack to a total of eight errors.

After Wake jumped out to a 7-5 lead in the fourth, NC State went on a 7-2 run to snag a 12-9 advantage and force a Wake Forest timeout.

State eventually took a four-point lead at 13-9 but a kill from Mullikin and a block assist from Mullikin and Fornah sparked a 6-1 Wake Forest run to give the Deacs a 15-14 lead.

With the score tied at 17-17, Homitz's 11th kill of the match was followed by a service ace from McIntyre to give the Deacs a 19-17 advantage. NCST would even the score again with a 2-0 run of its own but a service error and a kill from Mullikin would again give Wake a two-point lead at 21-19.

After an NCST timeout, the Deacs took a three-point lead at 23-20 but three straight Wolfpack points evened the set at 23 all.

This is when the set got interesting. The teams traded the next eight points with four kills per side. NCST fended off four straight match-points and eventually had a apir of set-points themselves.

But the Deacs held strong and got a big block assist from Mullikin and Jones to even the score at 29-29. Rodriguez then hit a strong drive serve for her fourth ace of the match and a hitting error from Tamietti gave the Deacs a thrilling 31-29 victory.

Wake will now head to North Carolina for a 1 p.m. match on Sunday afternoon.