Demon Deacons Fall to East Carolina in DEACTOWN Invitational Opener

Jay Jacobs Published: September 12, 2026 | Updated: September 12, 2026 2 minutes read

Read Time:1 Minute, 59 Second

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Wake Forest volleyball team (2-5, 0-0 ACC) dropped its opening match of the DEACTOWN Invitational to East Carolina (5-2, 0-0 American) by a score of 3-0 on Friday night at Varsity Arena.

Final pic.twitter.com/QwN1HLIcmO

— Wake Forest Volleyball (@WakeVolleyball) September 11, 2026

Graduate student Ryleigh Whitekettle led the Demon Deacons with 13 kills, including eight kills during the second set. Whitekettle also added a dig and a service ace against the Pirates.

Through two. pic.twitter.com/wsI0ulcDgp

— Wake Forest Volleyball (@WakeVolleyball) September 11, 2026

This marked the Topsail Beach, N.C., native’s fourth match with double-digit kills this season, having previously logged 18 kills at LSU, 10 kills against Davidson and 13 kills against Georgetown.

Double-digit kills already for Ryleigh 💪 pic.twitter.com/oS3O8BP522

— Wake Forest Volleyball (@WakeVolleyball) September 11, 2026

Elsewhere, freshman Emma Keeping logged a team-high 21 assists, three digs and a kill, while fellow freshman Ava Roddey tallied seven assists, four digs and a service ace.

Hammer it home 🔨 https://t.co/e6S8xf0mci pic.twitter.com/JdynkfWAug

— Wake Forest Volleyball (@WakeVolleyball) September 11, 2026

Meanwhile, senior Andrea Roman tallied 15 digs to lead the Deacs.

Faked them out 🤯 pic.twitter.com/5UWW7bq8S3

— Wake Forest Volleyball (@WakeVolleyball) September 11, 2026

Standout Stats
Graduate student Ryleigh Whitekettle led the Demon Deacons with 13 kills against the Pirates.
Eight of Whitekettle’s kills came during the second set.
This marked the Topsail Beach, N.C., native’s fourth match with double-digit kills this season.
Date Opponent Kills
8/28/26 LSU 18
9/4/26 Davidson 10
9/6/26 Georgetown 13
9/11/26 East Carolina 13

Starting the second set on the front foot 👊

WFU 5 ECU 2 | Set Two pic.twitter.com/PTUmvOAJ0l

— Wake Forest Volleyball (@WakeVolleyball) September 11, 2026

From Coach Hulsmeyer
“I really feel that we owe our fans an apology for that performance tonight. It’s not what we’re about. It’s not what we are capable of doing. We have to own it now and we have to get back to the right side of things. Sometimes you have to hit bottom to go up. We have to turn some things around. It starts tonight and continues tomorrow. We’ll be working to be better tomorrow.”