NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Clemson Tigers secured its second victory against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in a week span with a 3-1 (25-20, 13-25, 25-20, 25-17) on Friday evening. With the win, Clemson improves to 16-11 (7-8 ACC) which marks the most wins by the Tigers in the ACC since the team went 8-10 during the 2018 campaign.
Two Tigers clocked double-digit kills led by freshman Kennedy Wagner notching 13, and sophomore Mia McGrath finishing with 10. Clemson also saw offensive production from Azyah Dailey (eight), Adria Powell (seven) and Kateryna Tkachenko (six). Defensively, Devan Taylor clocked her 22nd double-digit dig match with a team-high 16, while Mckenna Slavik finished with 10. Dailey (all assisted) and Powell (one solo, four assisted) led the Tigers with five blocks each, while Kate Simington finished with four (all assisted) to contribute to Clemson’s 10 on the match.
The Tigers claimed the opening set after combining for 14 kills. The Clemson defense was a key piece in the 25-20 set victory after seven players contributed to the 21 digs in the first led by sophomore Becca Micelle, and the Tigers added three total blocks that included two block assists from Powell and one solo from McGrath. Clemson led Notre Dame in kills, blocks, digs and service aces to claim the first set.
The Fighting Irish evened things in the second set following a 25-13 win. McGrath, Dailey and Wagner kept the Tigers going offensively, and Powell added an ace, but Notre Dame claimed the set win. The Tigers responded in the third with a 25-20 set win. McKenna Gildon got Clemson started with two early aces, to bring her match total to three, a season high. Clemson followed with multiple scoring runs including one that had Powell having a solo block followed immediately by a block assist with Wagner. Notre Dame closed in on the Tigers’ lead, but kills from Wagner and Dailey secured the set victory.
Clemson kept the momentum in its favor to open the fourth going on an 8-3 run through the first 11 points. Notre Dame was able to cut Clemson’s lead down to two, but crucial challenges by the Tigers reversed two different points in Clemson’s favor to keep the advantage. The Tigers were able to clinch the set and the match on an 11-4 run that included three kills from Kateryna Tkachenko and the match point kill from Simington.
Up Next
The Tigers are back in action next Friday, Nov. 17 at NC State at 7 p.m., before taking on the Duke Blue Devils on Sunday, Nov. 19 at 1 p.m. Both matches will be available on ACCNX.
