Clemson Volleyball To Travel To Duke And Wake Forest

Nov. 5, 2008

CLEMSON, SC – Reigning ACC Player-of-the-Week Danielle Hepburn and the Clemson volleyball team will be on the road this weekend for pair of conference matches. The Tigers (18-6, 10-3 ACC) will take on Duke (18-7, 9-4) at 7:00 pm on Friday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, NC. Clemson will then travel to Winston-Salem, NC on Saturday for a 7:00 pm date with Wake Forest (16-9, 7-6).

Livestats will be available on the Blue Devil’s website for Friday night’s match while fans can access GameTracker on the Clemson Athletic Homepage for Saturday’s contest.

Hepburn leads the league with a 1.52 blocks per set average that ranks sixth nationally. The senior from Miami, FL has totaled 125 blocks in the Tigers’ 24 matches in 2008 and also leads the team with 315 kills and a .388 hitting percentage.

Meanwhile, junior libero Didem Ege is just three digs shy of the Clemson career record for defensive saves. The native of Istanbul, Turkey already holds the school record for career digs per set after tallying 544 as a freshman and 615 as a sophomore. She currently owns 1,520 career defensive saves and would break Julie Rodriguez’ mark of 1,523 recorded from 1993-96.

Scouting The Opposition The Blue Devils have won five of their last six matches since falling in four sets to the Tigers in Clemson, SC on Oct. 11 to boast an 18-7 overall record with a 9-4 mark in the ACC. The Blue Devils have lost just once at home this season, a 3-1 defeat suffered against Miami to open the conference schedule. Rachael Moss owns a team-best 326 kill for a 3.40 kills per set average, while Jourdan normal leads Duke with 114 total blocks. The Blue Devils are hitting at a .249 clip while blocking 2.09 attacks per set.

Wake Forest has also lost just one match on its home court in 2008, a five-set thriller to Florida State in the ACC opener. The Demon Deacons enter the weekend with a 16-9 overall record and a 7-6 ledger against conference foes. They will play host to Georgia Tech on Friday before the Tigers come to town on Saturday. Natalie Mullikin leads the team with 294 kills and a .325 hitting percentage, helping Wake Forest to average 12.89 kills per set. The Deacs are holding their opposition to just a .149 hitting figure thanks to a defense that averages 2.48 blocks and 17.08 digs per set.

Clemson Against The Blue Devils, Demon Deacons The Tigers swept Wake Forest at home on Oct. 10 to improve to 23-10 all-time against the Demon Deacons. Clemson also won the last match-up in Winston-Salem, defeating Wake Forest in four sets to now boast an 11-4 record on the Deacs’ home court. With their victory over the Blue Devils earlier this season, the Tigers narrowed the gap in the series score to 30-20 in favor of Duke. Last year, Clemson pulled out a five-set upset over the then-ranked #14 Blue Devils for its sixth win in 22 tries in Durham.