Sept. 18, 2008
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Coming off a its second tournament victory of the season, the Wake Forest volleyball team will look to keep the momentum rolling at the Appalachian State Invitational this weekend, Sept. 19-20. The Deacons will open the tournament against host Appalachian State on Friday evening at 7 p.m. Wake will then play Charlotte at 10 a.m. and North Carolina A&T at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. Wake Forest is riding a high after winning the Black & Gold Challenge last weekend with a perfect 3-0 record. Sophomore setter Kelsey Jones was named the tournament's MVP after recording 127 assists over the three matches. Almost 43 percent of her set attempts on the weekend went for kills and she also averaged over two digs set. For her efforts, Jones was named the ACC Volleyball Co-Player of the Week last week. She is the first Deacon to earn the honor this season and the first since Jessica Furlong on Nov. 6, 2006. Freshman Kadija Fornah also had a tremendous weekend, leading the team in kills in all three matches. She recorded a then season-high 14 kills in the five-set win over Western Michigan on Friday only to better that mark with 16 kills on Saturday in the win over Delaware. Fornah hit a solid .291 for the weekend and also notched a total of five block assists en route to being named to the All-Tournament team. Graduate student Natalie Mullikin continues to etch her name into the Wake Forest record books as her 15 blocks last weekend have brought her within 39 total blocks of Margaret Davidson's (1998-01) career record of 472. She is also just 56 block assists away from tying Davidson's career block assist mark of 388.
Mullikin, Jones and sophomore Megan Thornberry all rank in the top-ten statistically in the ACC. Mullikin is eighth in kills per set at 3.19 and ninth in both hitting percentage (.369) and average blocks per set (1.13). Jones is second in the conference in total assists (335) and assists per set (10.47) while Thornberry is also second in digs per set at 4.50. The Deacons will open the tournament with Appalachian State who gotten off to a bit of a slow start at 2-9. Lauren Sweckey (105) and Jordan Jesberg (98) lead the Mountaineers in kills while Cassie Engelgau tops the team with 149 digs. Wake holds a 12-10 advantage in the all-time series with Appalachian State, which includes winning the last three meetings. However, the Mountaineers hold a 4-2 edge in matches played in Boone. The two teams have not met since Sept. 18, 1999. Charlotte comes into the tournament with a 7-4 record having won its last two matches at the Davidson Invitational over the weekend. The 49ers' only loss at the Davidson Inv. was a 3-2 loss to Davidson, who Wake Forest downed 3-0 at the Deacon Invitational on Aug. 29. The Deacs also hold a slim advantage in the all-time series with Charlotte, winning ten of the 17 meetings between the two schools. The last time the two teams squared off was on Sept. 1, 2000, where Wake swept the 49ers 3-0. The winner of the match Saturday morning will take a 4-3 lead in the series in matches played on a neutral court. North Carolina A&T has won just one match this season compared to 11 defeats. The Aggies lone victory was a 3-0 sweep of Mississippi Valley State last Saturday. Wake has dominated the series with A&T, winning 11 of the 13 matches. The Deacons have won the last seven matches in the series, sweeping A&T all seven times. The only two victories in the series for the Aggies came in 1981 when A&T swept the home-and-home series with the Deacs. Both matches were 3-2 victories. After the weekend, Wake will return home to open up ACC play with a pair of matches. The Deacs will host Florida State on Thursday, Sept. 25 and Miami on Friday, Sept. 26. Both matches are slated to begin at 7 p.m. |
