Volleyball Looks for Win over Gamecocks

September 14, 1998

This Week’s Matchups Clemson (5-1) will travel to South Carolina (6-1) Wednesday for a 7 p.m. match. The Tigers defeated the Gamecocks 3-0 last season in Clemson. The Gamecocks lead the series 26-17, but Clemson has a 3-2 advantage over the last five seasons. The last five matches between the two teams have ended in 3-0 decisions. Clemson is 6-14 versus South Carolina in Columbia. South Carolina’s only loss this season was to tenth-ranked Pacific.

This weekend Clemson will travel to Kentucky for the Wildcat Invitational. On Friday, the Tigers will face SMU. Clemson defeated SMU twice last season, 3-0 at home and 3-2 on the road. Saturday morning Clemson will face Arkansas State for the first time in history, before playing Kentucky Saturday evening. The Wildcats hold a 5-0 series lead over the Tigers.

Tigers Win Big Orange Bash Clemson defeated Auburn 15-4, 15-11, 15-11, and Central Florida 15-3, 15-5, 15-9, this weekend to win the Big Orange Bash.

The Tigers placed four players on the all-tournament team, and junior Cindy Stern was named Tournament MVP. Stern finished the weekend with ten blocks, 11 digs, and a .568 hitting percentage (30 kills, five errors, 44 attack attempts).

Junior outside hitter Skye Frost finished the tournament with six service aces, 15 digs, four block assists and a .235 hitting percentage (13 kills, five errors, 34 total attempts).

Junior outside hitter Alison Coday hit .340 for the weekend, with 23 kills, six errors and 50 total attacks. Coday had 1 service ace, seven digs and four block assists in the two matches. Sophomore setter Melissa Kudelka tallied 69 assists, 10 digs and two service aces for the weekend.

ACC Notes The Clemson volleyball team leads the ACC in two statistical categories, hitting percentage and blocks per game. Clemson senior middle hitter Stephanie Schulz leads the conference with a .575 hitting percentage…Cindy Stern was named ACC Co-Player of the Week last week after being named Tournament MVP at the St. Louis Tournament…The Tigers captured the ACC Championship last season, winning the ACC Tournament in Raleigh, NC. The title was Clemson’s first in the 21-year history of the Tiger volleyball program. Clemson’s victory also marked the first time in ACC history that the fourth-seeded team won the crown.

Hoover Seeking Coaching Record Head coach Jolene Jordan Hoover needs just 12 victories to surpass former head coach Linda White’s record of 138 wins at the helm of the Tiger program. Hoover has a 126-50 record over her five seasons at Clemson and is 219-81 in her seven years as a head coach. Hoover’s .725 winning percentage entering the season placed her 17th nationally among Division I head coaches. She ranks third among ACC coaches with 50 league wins. Only one other active ACC coach, Maryland’s Janice Kruger, ranks ahead with 75 wins.

Tigers Ranked 33rd Nationally The Clemson volleyball team ranked 33rd nationally in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches’ Poll released last Tuesday, moving up from a 39th-place ranking in the preseason.

Tiger on U.S. National Team Clemson junior middle hitter Cindy Stern competed on the United States National B Team this past summer in various competitions held in Colorado Springs. The daily schedule for the five weeks Stern trained included five hours of practice each weekday, two hours in the morning and three hours each afternoon. During the last week of training, the U.S. team hosted Canada’s national team for nightly competition.

Current Tigers Among Career Leaders Senior Stephanie Schulz is in fifth place on the Tigers’ career list with 312 block assists. Schulz is 55 block assists away from Wendy Anderson’s record of 367 block assists. She has 862 career kills, ranking tenth on Clemson’s all-time list.

Junior Cindy Stern ranks sixth on the career block assists list with 264 block assists. Stern ranks seventh on the career block solos list with 86 block solos.

Home, Sweet Home Clemson was 13-2 in Jervey Gym last season. During the 15 home matches, a total of 10,502 fans gathered to watch the Tigers, giving Clemson the 28th-best home attendance figure among all NCAA schools. Three of Clemson’s 1997 home matches were attended by standing-room only crowds of over 1,000 fans. In the Tigers’ three home matches this season, 2,315 fans have come out to watch Clemson, an average of 772 fans per contest.