Tigers Conclude 2005 Volleyball Season With 3-2 Loss To Virginia

Nov. 26, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – The Clemson volleyball team ended the 2005 season with a heartbreaking, 3-2, loss to Virginia on Friday night at the Memorial Gymnasium in Charlottesville, VA. Without a conference tournament this year, the Tigers finished with a 12-18 overall record, including a 7-15 mark against ACC competition. The Cavaliers improved to 20-10 on the year with a 15-6 record in league play.

Brittany Ross and Jeannette Abbott combined for 49 kills to lead Clemson. Ross had a match-high 26 kills and hit .339, while Abbott posted 23 kills and 10 digs for a double-double. Meghan Steiner hit .364 with 11 kills and led the Tigers with six blocks. Setter Courtney Lawrence handed out 59 assists and added nine digs, while Anna Vallinch shared match-high honors in digs with 17.

Virginia’s Sarah Kirkwood had a team-best 23 kills, and Shannon Davis added 20 for the Cavaliers. Emily Kirkwood recorded 72 set assists in the five-game match.

The Tigers won the first two games by identical 30-27 scores. The Cavaliers came out of the intermission on fire and registered a 30-16 win in game three to pull within one game. UVa trailed 27-24 in the fourth game, but back-to-back kills by Osco and Oakes and a bad Clemson set tied the game at 27-27. An ace by Virginia’s Beth Shelton followed by another kill by Osco gave the Cavaliers a 29-27 lead. After a UVa service error, Osco closed the fourth game with her sixth kill of the frame.

In the deciding fifth game, Virginia raced out to a 4-0 lead only to see the Tigers tie the game at 4-4. Clemson then took an 8-5 lead and also led 11-9, forcing a Virginia timeout. Osco slammed a kill out of the timeout and Oakes followed with back-to-back terminators to give the Cavaliers a 12-11 advantage. The Tigers’ Ross and UVa’s Sarah Kirkwood traded kills twice, which made the score 14-13 in favor of Virginia. The Cavaliers completed the comeback on Davis’ 20th kill of the match.

The Cavaliers hit an impressive .351 in the match with a season-high 87 kills. Clemson hit .275 with 71 kills. UVa held a slight 65-64 edge in digs, while the Tigers won the blocking battle 10-9. Virginia, which leads the ACC in service aces, tallied 12 in the match, compared to seven for Clemson.