CLEMSON, S.C. – In front of a capacity 1,500 crowd, Clemson honored its five seniors on Sunday following a three-set match (16-25, 12-25, 21-25) against the No. 7 Louisville Cardinals. After the loss, Clemson dropped to 16-14 (4-14 ACC), while Louisville improved to 24-4 (16-2 ACC) on the year.
After the match, Clemson recognized Kate Hansen, Bianca Martinez, Mia McGrath, Mia Moore and Nil Okur for their time and dedication to the Clemson Volleyball program. The five will play their final home match in Jervey Gym on Tuesday, Nov. 25 at 2 p.m. when they welcome Syracuse to Clemson.
Louisville jumped out to an early lead that had Clemson using a timeout early, but after returning, the Tigers went on a three-point run with kills by Mia McGrath and Mia Moore to cut the advantage down to two. The Cardinals extended their advantage to 10 points, but McGrath, Ecem Aksoy and Kate Hansen continued to provide kills to keep the Tigers’ offense alive. Despite putting together a three-point run, Louisville took the opening set, 25-16.
The Cardinals went on numerous scoring runs in the second that were broken up by McGrath, Moore and Hansen. Nil Okur and Katherine Sandt broke up another run with a block that cut the spread down to six, but Louisville extended the lead to take the set, 25-12.
Clemson and Louisville traded points to open the third as McGrath and Aksoy notched kills for the Tigers. The Cardinals were able to go on a run that had them taking a seven-point lead, but Clemson strung together four points, including two kills from Moore and a combined block by Okur and McGrath, that forced Louisville to call timeout. Clemson cut things down to one point before Louisville went on a 6-4 run to cap the set, 25-21, and the match.
Tiger Leaders/Highlights:
Up Next
The Tigers return to Jervey Gym for the final home match of the season on Tuesday, Nov. 25. Clemson will host Syracuse for the second matchup between the two programs this season. First serve is slated for 2 p.m. on ACCNX with admission free and open to the public.
