Oct 31, 2024

GAMEDAY CENTRAL: Clemson Begins Road Trip at UNC, Duke

Clemson (8-13, 0-10 ACC) head out to No. 25 North Carolina (17-2, 9-1 ACC) and Duke (8-13, 4-6 ACC)

Clemson: Roster | Schedule | Match Notes (PDF) | Jervey Gym Fan Info

PREVIEW

The Clemson Tigers (8-13, 0-10 ACC) are set to begin a two-weekend road trip starting against the No. 25 North Carolina Tar Heels (17-2, 9-1 ACC) and the Duke Blue Devils (8-13, 4-6 ACC).
The Tigers will first travel to Chapel Hill, N.C. for their sixth-ranked match of the year against the No. 25 North Carolina Tar Heels in Carmichael Arena on November 1 at 7 p.m. for the 84th time in program history.
Clemson will then travel to Durham, N.C. to face off against the Duke Blue Devils. The two ACC rivals will meet in Cameron Indoor Stadium on November 3 at 1 p.m. for the 70th matchup between the two programs.
Both matches will be shown on ACCNX.

FROM SETBACKS TO SUCCESS

During the Tigers match against No. 17 Georgia Tech, team captain Azyah Dailey notched a career high 30 kills, the highest by any Tiger this season, while hitting .312 and putting up nine digs and a block. Dailey’s 30 kill match is tied for the ninth-most in a match in Clemson history and is the fourth time in program history a 30+ kill game was recorded against Georgia Tech (Leslie Finn – 30, 09/28/04, 30, 11/19/04; Brittany Ross – 32, 11/15/05)
The senior is one of the leading attackers on the team with the third-highest total points, second-highest total attacks and total kills and leads the Tigers in kills per set. Dailey is also a threat on the defensive end, having the fourth-highest total blocks and blocks per set on the team.
Link to the full story can be found here.

THE INTERSECTION OF AMBITION & HARD WORK

Senior libero Devan Taylor cemented herself in Clemson Tigers’ lore by surpassing 2024 Clemson Hall of Famer, Julie Rodriguez, to claim the sole possession of the second most career digs in Clemson history during the match against Louisville. Taylor currently has 1,640 digs in her career.
The team captain is also a defensive stalwart. The Texan’s 356 digs and 4.68 digs per set are the second-highest total and the highest rate in the ACC, respectively. Taylor additionally has a top-50 digs per set rate in the nation. Earlier this season, the Texan recorded 34 digs in a five-set thriller against Wofford, tied with Anna Vallinch (34, 09/14/04) for the eighth-most in Tiger history.
A link to Taylor’s journey as a collegiate student-athlete can be found here.

THE KIDS WILL BE ALRIGHT

Neea-Maria Joki continues to lead the Tigers in the service game with a team-high 25 aces and 0.37 aces per set. The freshman additionally sports 2.24 kills per set, the third-highest rate on the team.
Lejla Hadžiredžepović showed out in her first game action as a Tiger. The Icelandic pin attacker notched 15 kills in her starting debut and led both Clemson and Notre Dame in kills and points. Hadžiredžepović has recorded a total of 29 kills, 3.22 kills per set and 32.0 points in her first nine sets with the Tigers.
Against Georgia Tech, Katherine Sandt recorded a career-high 63 assists, seven assists away from cracking the top-10 assists in a single match in Clemson program history.

TIGERS IN THE PROS

Karis Watson, a four-year letterwinner and middle blocker for the Tigers, signed with the Atlanta Vibe in January 2024 for the Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF). She recorded double digit kills against San Diego where she also put up four blocks and three digs and notched four kills, four blocks and three digs in the inaugural PVF match. Recently, Beta Dumancic joined Watson as the second Clemson alumni to join the PVF when she signed with the Columbus Fury.
Recent Clemson Volleyball alumni, Mckenna Slavik and Adria Powell, both signed overseas to begin their professional volleyball careers. Slavik signed with AEK Larnaca out of Karavas, Cypress, the same club that Head Coach Jackie Simpson Kirr played for, while Powell signed with VfB Suhl Lotto Thurigen located in Suhl, Germany.

For complete coverage of the Clemson volleyball team, follow @ClemsonVB on X and Instagram, and @ClemsonVolleyball on Facebook.