Sept. 10, 2008
WINSTON-SALEM - The Wake Forest volleyball team returns home to host the Black & Gold Challenge this weekend Sept. 12-13. This is the second home tournament of the season for the Deacons as they won the Deacon Invitational two weeks ago. Delaware, East Carolina and Western Michigan will visit Winston-Salem to participate in the four-team invitational held at Reynolds Gym. The Deacons will play Western Michigan at 7 p.m. Friday night and East Carolina at 12:30 p.m. and Delaware at 7 p.m. on Saturday. After a tough weekend at the Adidas Classic in Indiana last weekend, the Deacs are looking to rebound. Wake dropped all three matches in Bloomington but still managed a few individual bright spots. Graduate student Natalie Mullikin recorded double-digit kills in all three matches, including a season-high 22 against Louisville. Mullikin, who was named the Deacon Invitational's MVP, was also named to the All-Tournament at the Adidas Classic. For the season, the Lebanon, Ind. native has recorded double-digit kills in five of the six matches and ranks fourth in the ACC with 3.60 kills per set. Sophomores Kelsey Jones and Kristen White also had good weekends individually. Jones recorded a pair if double-doubles in the first two matches and ended the tournament with 108 assists and 33 digs. She is currently fifth in the ACC at 9.90 assists per set. White had 11 kills against both Louisville and Valparaiso and also recorded her first double of the season with 11 digs against the Crusaders. Fellow sophomore Megan Thornberry had a total of 44 digs in the three matches last weekend and is currently third in the ACC with 4.25 digs per set. Freshman Kadija Fornah had her first double-digit kill performance of her career with 11 against Valparaiso.
The competition this weekend should prove to be a strong test for the Deacs. Western Michigan is coming off a 2007 campaign that saw the Broncos claim their first Mid-American Conference West Division title since 2000. Delaware won the 2007 Colonial Athletic Association title. In the 2007 NCAA Tournament, the Blue Hens defeated Princeton in the first round before falling in a closely-contested bout with No. 17 St. John's in the round of 32. Wake Forest has played Western Michigan and Delaware just one time each. The Deacons downed the Broncos 3-1 at the Kentucky Challenge on Sept. 14, 2002. However, Delaware got the best of Wake 0-2 back on Oct. 6, 1984. Western Michigan comes into the weekend with a perfect 5-0 record after having beaten Oakland, Western Carolina and Illinois State to win the 2008 Redbird Classic last weekend. Jillian Mitchell was named the tournament MVP and has dished out 186 assists on the season. Delaware has gotten off to a slow 2-5 start this season. The Blue Hens' two wins came against New Hampshire and Syracuse last weekend. Katie Dennehy tops the team with 69 kills, including 16 against Syracuse. Wake Forest and East Carolina have met 21 times previously, but the intra-state rivals have not played each other since 2001. Wake holds a 15-6 all-time advantage and has won the last eight meetings. The Deacons have lost just one time home to ECU, winning the eight other matches in Reynolds Gym. East Carolina enters the weekend after having gone 2-2 at the High Point Classic last weekend. The Pirates are 6-2 overall with a match still to be played Wednesday evening. Hannah Fenker has recorded 220 assists this season while Trish Monroe collected a total of 130 digs. After the Black & Gold Challenge, the Deacons wrap up non-conference play at the Appalachian Invitational Sept. 19-20 in Boone, N.C. Wake opens the tournament against host Appalachian State on Friday and then will then face Charlotte and North Carolina A&T the following day. |
