Wake Forest vs. Houston Volleyball
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BATON ROUGE, La. – After dropping a five-set match the night before, the Wake Forest volleyball team (1-1, 0-0 ACC) bounced back as they earned a 3-2 victory over Houston (1-1, 0-0 Big 12) on Saturday afternoon at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Leaving the Bayou with a W 😤 pic.twitter.com/fCDboCrI3Y
— Wake Forest Volleyball (@WakeVolleyball) August 29, 2026
Senior outside hitter Patrycja Lagida powered the Demon Deacons as she recorded her first double-double of the season. The Chotomow, Poland, native ended the match with 14 kills and 13 digs while also finishing with a .290 attack percentage.
Cruising in the fourth 🏎️
WFU 15 UH 9| Set Four pic.twitter.com/rhYFwHJAVU
— Wake Forest Volleyball (@WakeVolleyball) August 29, 2026
Graduate student right-side hitter Ryleigh Whitekettle continued her dominant play as she led the Deacs with six total blocks against the Cougars. The Topsail Beach, N.C., native also added seven kills and a dig.
Through 3⃣ pic.twitter.com/LlWQJ3viOa
— Wake Forest Volleyball (@WakeVolleyball) August 29, 2026
Redshirt senior Sanaa Williams and redshirt junior Catherine Burke both tallied four blocks in the afternoon, with Williams adding nine kills and four digs.
Battled back to tie it at 1-1 🤟 pic.twitter.com/HvovZfe65f
— Wake Forest Volleyball (@WakeVolleyball) August 29, 2026
Overall, the Deacs combined for nine blocks, bringing their total over the course of the first two matches of the season to 25 blocks.
Holding onto an early lead in the second set 💪
WFU 9 UH 8 | Set Two pic.twitter.com/e5qTuUadRY
— Wake Forest Volleyball (@WakeVolleyball) August 29, 2026
Elsewhere, freshman setter Emma Keeping logged a team-high 24 assists, while junior Becca Bellows added 23 assists of her own. Additionally, the duo combined for five of Wake Forest’s eight service aces.
Work to do in set 2⃣ pic.twitter.com/PTaTTyr0qE
— Wake Forest Volleyball (@WakeVolleyball) August 29, 2026
Meanwhile, freshman outside hitter Lyla Stewart recorded her first double-digit kill performance of her collegiate career, finishing the match with 11 kills. The Powell, Ohio, native also added three digs, two assists and a service ace.
In a close battle early 🥊
WFU 11 UH 15 | Set One pic.twitter.com/0JCUF5VwQX
— Wake Forest Volleyball (@WakeVolleyball) August 29, 2026
Standout Stats
Whitekettle led the Demon Deacons in blocks for the second consecutive match.
Over the course of the two matches, the Topsail Beach, N.C., native recorded 16 blocks.
The Demon Deacons combined for nine total blocks against the Cougars, bringing their total to 25 in the first two matches of the season.
The Demon Deacons led their opponents in blocks 25-16 over the two matches.
Lagida notched her first double-double of the 2026 season, finishing with 14 kills and 13 digs.
Stewart recorded her first double-digit kill performance of her collegiate career.
The Demon Deacons led the Cougars in service aces, 8-6.
Additional Notes
This marked Wake Forest’s first win over Houston in program history.
Wake Forest and Houston had met twice prior to Saturday’s match, with the most recent meeting coming in the 2014 season.
Since the start of the 2019 campaign, the Deacs have recorded a 51-17 record versus non-conference opponents.
Ready to roll 🫡 pic.twitter.com/3uL8057yp2
— Wake Forest Volleyball (@WakeVolleyball) August 29, 2026
From Coach Hulsmeyer
“So excited for the team. To come back and have to play another five-set match just shows how gutsy they are. They continued to step up there. I know that they were tired. You could definitely see the ups and downs of our team, but they battled back and stayed with it. Being able to take that fifth set was a true sentiment to our strength and conditioning team, as well as our nutrition team, for how well they have prepared our team. We have to keep this momentum going into next weekend.”
Up Next
The Demon Deacons open their home slate next weekend as they host the Wake Forest Invitational from Sept. 4-6 at Varsity Arena. The Deacs will face Davidson on Friday at 6:30 p.m., UCF on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. and Georgetown on Sunday at 2 p.m.
All matches are free for spectators and will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.
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