Nov. 20, 2007
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest will wrap up the 2007 season with a pair of road matches this week at Virginia Tech and Virginia. The Demon Deacons will take on the Hokies on Wednesday at 5 p.m. and then face the Cavaliers two days later at 7 p.m. Wake Forest enters the week with a record of 8-21 overall and 5-15 in the ACC. The Deacons are coming off a three-game sweep of NC State last Friday in Winston-Salem. As the season winds to a close, three Deacons are still ranked among the league leaders. Junior Natalie Mullikin is in the top 10 in the ACC in four categories. She ranks fifth in kills (3.99 per game), fifth in points (4.84), seventh in blocks (1.27) and seventh in hitting percentage (.326). Freshman setter Kelsey Jones is eighth in the conference in assists with 10.71 per game. Freshman libero Megan Thornberry ranks 10th in the ACC with 4.15 digs per game. Mullikin is within range of a number of Wake Forest's single-season records. She is 20 total blocks shy of the school record of 153, which Mullikin set in 2006. Mullikin is also 13 block assists short of Jackie Lucas' record of 114, set last season. Mullikin's blocks per game average of 1.27 is just shy of the school record of 1.29, which was set by Margaret Davidson in 1998 and tied last year by Mullikin. Virginia Tech enters Wednesday's match 13-17 overall and 7-13 in the ACC. The Hokies have lost three straight, including setbacks at Boston College and Maryland last weekend. VT fell in five to BC and in four to Maryland. The Hokies are 8-4 at home this season. Virginia Tech holds a 20-8 advantage in the all-time series with Wake Forest. The Hokies picked up a four-game defeat of the Deacons earlier this year on Oct. 20. Last season, the teams split the series with each winning at home. Both matches went a full five games to be decided.
The Hokies have a sizable advantage in the all-time series due to a 14-match winning streak from 1980-97. Virginia Tech has taken four of the seven meetings since the Hokies joined the ACC in 2004. Virginia, who hosts Duke on Wednesday, enters the week at 17-12 overall and 12-8 in the ACC. The Cavaliers are coming off a weekend split at Maryland and Boston College. UVa defeated Maryland in four games on Friday before falling to Boston College in five the following evening. Virginia is 9-3 at home this season, including a 7-2 mark in ACC play. The Cavaliers hold a slight 17-15 advantage in the all-time series with the Deacons. UVa, however, has won six of the past seven meetings dating back to 2004. Earlier this season, Virginia took down Wake in four games on Oct. 19. The two teams split last year's meetings, each winning at home. |
