Wake Forest Volleyball
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BATON ROUGE, La. – Despite a career night by graduate student right-side hitter Ryleigh Whitekettle, the Wake Forest volleyball team (0-1, 0-0 ACC) dropped a five-set heartbreaker to LSU (1-0, 0-0 SEC), 2-3, on Friday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Final. pic.twitter.com/cdISKY4KT6
— Wake Forest Volleyball (@WakeVolleyball) August 29, 2026
Whitekettle led the way for the Demon Deacons as she finished with an 18-kill, 10-block double-double, with the 10 blocks setting a new career-high. Additionally, the Topsail Beach, N.C., native matched her career-high with six digs.
Coming down to the final set 💪 pic.twitter.com/NvdkGsGCXm
— Wake Forest Volleyball (@WakeVolleyball) August 29, 2026
With her 10 blocks against the Tigers, Whitekettle eclipsed 200 career blocks, with 89 of her 204 blocks coming at Wake Forest. Two other Demon Deacons ended the match with five or more blocks, with redshirt junior Catherine Burke notching nine blocks and redshirt senior Sanaa Williams adding seven blocks.
Battling ⚔️
WFU 11 LSU 11 | Set Five pic.twitter.com/N8pr2hq8nj
— Wake Forest Volleyball (@WakeVolleyball) August 29, 2026
Overall, Wake Forest combined for 16 total blocks, the most since the Deacs blocked 17 attacks against East Carolina on Sept. 16, 2025. Junior setter Becca Bellows led the Deacs with 26 assists, while freshman Emma Keeping totaled 20 assists in her collegiate debut.
Fighting for a fifth set 🥊
WFU 16 LSU 15 | Set Four pic.twitter.com/I1KmpZAOuL
— Wake Forest Volleyball (@WakeVolleyball) August 29, 2026
Elsewhere, freshman outside hitter Lyla Stewart shined in her collegiate debut, totaling 14 kills, nine digs, two blocks and a service ace. Meanwhile, senior libero Andrea Roman logged 26 digs and five assists in her first match with the Deacs.
Joining the 200 Blocks Club 🤩 pic.twitter.com/z3nqrXyGQP
— Wake Forest Volleyball (@WakeVolleyball) August 29, 2026
Standout Stats
Two Demon Deacons finished the match with double-digit kills:
Ryleigh Whitekettle – 18 kills
Lyla Stewart – 14 kills
Three Deacs recorded five or more blocks against the Tigers:
Ryleigh Whitekettle – 10 blocks
Catherine Burke – 9 blocks
Sanaa Williams – 7 blocks
Wake Forest led LSU in blocks, 16-10.
The Demon Deacons also led the Tigers in service aces and digs.
Double digit kills for Ryleigh 😤 pic.twitter.com/MR1tWCtE8d
— Wake Forest Volleyball (@WakeVolleyball) August 29, 2026
Additional Notes
This marked Wake Forest’s third meeting with LSU and the first since the 2011 season.
This also marked the 34th time the Deacs have faced an SEC opponent in program history.
On a roll 🛞
WFU 15 LSU 11 | Set Two pic.twitter.com/ghhXMoRMjz
— Wake Forest Volleyball (@WakeVolleyball) August 28, 2026
Seven Demon Deacons made their Wake Forest debut on Friday night:
Emma Keeping
Andrea Roman
Catherine Burke
Mattea Saunders
The Phoenix native also made her first collegiate start.
Amina N’Diaye
Laiya Ebo
Lyla Stewart
The Powell, Ohio, native also made her first collegiate start.
Hammer it down 🔨 https://t.co/GRdGSn4Kt8 pic.twitter.com/yASEDlyw5K
— Wake Forest Volleyball (@WakeVolleyball) August 28, 2026
From Coach Hulsmeyer
“I’m really pleased with the way that we battled tonight in a tough environment. We let a couple things get away from us, but we kept coming back. Unfortunately, we came out on the wrong side of the scoreboard. I was really proud of how the team answered throughout the match. I thought we had some big performances today. Ryleigh Whitekettle was outstanding. We had so many people step up. I love the way that Amina [N’Diaye] came in off the bench.”
Up Next
The Demon Deacons conclude their opening weekend tomorrow afternoon as they face Houston at 2 p.m.
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