Once again the volleyball team showed their resilience as they dismantled East Tennessee State on Oct. 22, 30-19, 30-17, 30-18. After dropping two heartbreakers to ACC foes, No. 24 Georgia Tech and Florida State, both in four games, the Deacs managed to bounce back with a victory.

The win puts the Deacs at 11-12 (4-5 ACC) and gives them a chance to make a run in the conference with their next two games against ACC opponents Duke and Maryland.

The Oct. 19 game against Georgia Tech 20-4 (6-2 ACC) was a game that could have gone the Deacs' way. The 30-27, 30-26, 28-30, 30-25 loss left a sour taste in the mouths of the Deacons.

"At times we played really well," said third-year Head Coach Valorie Baker, "But at the same time we struggled stopping them." Stopping the No. 20 team at the time proved to be a tough task as the Jackets' two outside hitters Lauren Sauer and Blair Moon were, as described by Coach Baker, "two strong outside hitters, the best I have seen play against us." They tallied 21 and 14 kills, respectively.

But despite the difficulty in stopping the two assailants, the Deacs showed that they could compete and possibly defeat the Yellow Jackets. The Deacs won the third game and forced a fourth. Sophomore middle blocker Kim Stern played as consistent as you can get, deliveing a career-high 21 kills.

The team equaled Georgia Tech in kills with 64, but the Yellow Jackets were more accurate, hitting .287 compared to the Demon Deacons attack percentage of .210. The Deacs were also outblocked by the Yellow Jackets 39-17.

After a disappointing loss to Georgia Tech it appeared that the Deacs were going to show the grit that they have shown all season against the Seminoles of Florida State 14-7 (5-3 ACC), as they took the first game in an epic battle 34-32.

But the next three games ended up going in the Seminoles favor 30-18, 30-25, 30-26, and although the team showed great character with the bench stepping up after redshirt freshman outside hitter Valerie Rydberg went down with an injury, as Coach Baker puts it, "The consistency just wasn't there."

The bench that was mentioned before was led by junior middle blocker Jessica Hauf, who recorded a career-high 20 kills. Kim Stern followed her great performance against Georgia Tech with 18 kills in the match. "Kim and Jessica bring a lot offensively and all I see is them continuing to get better," Coach Baker said.

Ashlee Phillips dished out 54 assists and had six kills, seven digs, a service ace and two blocks all in a day's work.

Redshirt freshman Valerie Rydberg left game three with the help of athletic trainer Jerff Strahm, but returned in game four as the liberator.

After suffering two gut-wrenching losses, the Deacs were due for a break out game which came against East Tennessee State. The Deacs dominated from start to finish in their victory. As was the case in the FSU match, some unexpected players stepped up once again against the Buccaneers. Sophomore Tarah Shelton came through and led the Deacs with 12 kills and Erin Borhart took over the reigns as setter and tallied 10 assists in her brief , but effective, time on the court.

Coach Baker was very positive on the emmergence of these players, and feels that the win "could not have come at a better time."

The Deacons come into their next two games against two teams Duke and Maryland, one that they have beaten already and one that can be beaten. The Deacs dismantled the Blue Devils in their ACC opener in the three games. "Players have the ability to win, we beat them in three at their place, and if the consistency is there we can repeat that," Baker said.

As for Maryland, the Deacs lost a tough one to the Terps earlier in the season in four games, but stand at 3-5 in the ACC, a half game behind the Deacs. The time for the home game against Duke on Oct. 25 is set for 7 p.m.