Oct 24, 2024

GAMEDAY CENTRAL: Volleyball Hosts Pair of ACC Foes This Weekend

Clemson (8-11, 0-8 ACC) welcomes Wake Forest (11-8, 3-5 ACC) and NC State (10-6, 5-3 ACC) to Jervey Gym

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

PREVIEW

The Clemson Tigers (8-11, 0-8 ACC) are set to host the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (11-8, 3-5 ACC) and the NC State Wolfpack (10-6, 5-3 ACC) in Jervey Gym.
The Tigers will face off against the Demon Deacons on Friday, October 25th at 6:00 P.M. for the 57th time in program history. Clemson has historically had the advantage against Wake Forest with an overall 36-20 record against the Demon Deacons while being 17-10 at home.
On Sunday, October 27th, Clemson will welcome NC State to Jervey Gym at 1:30 P.M. for the 75th time in the history of the program. The Tigers have the historical advantage against the Wolfpack, holding a 41-33 overall record over NC State including a 23-10 record at home.
The match against Wake Forest will be streamed on ACCNX while the match against NC State will be shown on ACCN.

RPI LOOKOUT

In the third RPI rankings of the season, the Clemson Tigers were placed 86th in adjusted RPI.
The Tigers have faced fierce competition midway through the season with the team having already played nine games against opponents within the top-50, including three within the top-10.
Clemson ranks as 14th in the ACC in terms of RPI and has 15 total contests with teams in the top-50 of RPI. This week’s match against Wake Forest and NC State are within the top-100 and top-35 nationally.

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, being the fourth-highest on the team in total blocks and blocks per set.
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 1,614 digs in her career.
The team captain is also a defensive stalwart. The Texan’s 330 digs and 4.78 digs per set are both the highest marks in the ACC. Taylor additionally has a top-35 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 2.21 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.
Claire Luoma and Addi Rains, a pair of freshman defensive specialists and liberos, have also seen substantial amounts of playing time throughout the season. Luoma has notched the fifth-most aces for the Tigers on the year, with four of those coming in collegiate debut against Loyola Chicago. The Indiana-native Rains has the fifth-highest digs per set for the Tigers.

WELCOMING “NEW” JERVEY GYM

In the Tigers opening match at “New” Jervey Gym, Clemson completed a thrilling reverse sweep over the Kennesaw Owls, 3-2.
The Tigers have averaged over 1,000 fans in attendance in each home game this season.
Following the conclusion of the 2023 home slate, Clemson began upgrades to Jervey Gym that included re-allocating more than 14,000 square feet of space and raising the roof of Jervey Gym by 15 feet.
Admission to all home matches inside Jervey Gym is free and open to the public. Fans can learn more about parking, entrance and more can be found here.
The Volleyball Suite directly off the gym will be complete with a team meeting room, lounge, locker room, and student-athlete amenities.
The match day fan experience has also been upgraded to include new lighting, bleachers and sound system. There will also be a brand-new video board and a premier ACEs Club Lounge (slated to open in 2025).
Jervey Gym upgrades is in partnership with the Performance and Wellness Center (P.A.W.) that will include the strength and conditioning center, as well as the wellness and recovery space that will house athletic training and the Bistro for dining.

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