Upcoming Event: Volleyball versus NC State on September 26, 2025 at 6:30 PM
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6:30 PM
Volleyball
vs NC State
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Friday, September 16
Winston-Salem, N.C.
7:00 PM
Duke University
1
at
3
Wake Forest
No. 23 Duke Falls 3-1 at Wake Forest
9/16/2011 6:06:00 PM | Volleyball
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Kadija Fornah and Carlin Salmon both knocked down 21 kills to lead Wake Forest to a 3-1 (25-21, 24-26, 25-21, 25-23) win over 23rd-ranked Duke in a hard-fought ACC opener on Friday night in Reynolds Gym.
Fornah and Salmon accounted for 54 of Wake Forest's 100 points in the four-set victory. The duo was nearly perfect, combining for a .451 hitting percentage and only five attack errors as Wake Forest (3-5, 1-0 ACC) overcame late deficits in every set. Salmon chipped in three service aces while Fornah worked her way in on five of Wake Forest's 11 blocks.
Their combined performance was enough to offset Duke senior Amanda Robertson's best night of the season. The 6-3 middle blocker led Duke (5-4, 0-1 ACC) with a season-high 17 kills - the most by any Duke attacker this season - and hit .406 for the match. She also picked up her second double-double of the season with 10 digs and was a perfect 18-for-18 in serve receptions.
"As a team, we're very disappointed with the outcome of the match tonight, but we have to give Wake Forest credit," Duke head coach Jolene Nagel said. "They played a great match and they played very hard. At key times, they played more aggressively than we did. We gave a great effort tonight though, and I'm proud of the way our team played."
While Robertson, classmate Sophia Dunworth and freshman Jeme Obeime all reached double-digit kills, the Wake Forest offense proved too much for Duke (5-4, 0-1 ACC). Led by freshman setter Danae Rosendall, the Demon Deacons hit .318 and had only one player make more than three attack errors. All-ACC libero Ali McCurdy did what she could with 22 digs, but Wake Forest's offense used the entire court in the win.
The four-set defeat was the first ACC-opening loss for Duke since 2008. Duke had won its past two ACC openers - both against Wake Forest - by 3-0 sweeps.
"I think that we just needed to work better together as a team during adverse times out there," Nagel said. "We're still developing as a team so that we can handle adversity. I see some very positive things from us, but right now we've got to stick together, continue to come together and find our personality as a team. We have to find how we're going to work best together on the court."
Duke held a 19-15 lead in the first set, but Wake Forest stormed back to take the opener 25-21 after Salmon keyed the late run with four of her six kills. Duke hung on to win set two 26-24, thanks to six kills from Robertson, but the Demon Deacons stormed back to win game three 25-21. Game four was another back-and-forth battle, but Wake Forest came back once again to overcome a six-point deficit and win 25-23. With Wake Forest trailing 23-22 in that set, Fornah delivered two kills, including the match point, to seal the victory.
Duke will play Charlotte on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Reynolds Gym.
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