Women’s Volleyball Prepares to Host Duke and Wake Forest

October 5, 1998

This Week’s Matchups Clemson (10-5, 3-2 ACC) plays host to Duke Friday at 7 p.m. and Wake Forest Saturday at 6 p.m.

The Tigers defeated the Blue Devils at home and on the road last season, then took a 3-0 victory over Duke in the first round of the ACC Tournament. Duke leads the series 20-9.

Clemson holds a 10-0 series advantage over Wake Forest after winning both matches last season.

Tigers’ Latest Results The Clemson volleyball team dropped a 3-1 decision (5-15, 15-11, 13-15, 4-15) to North Carolina on Tuesday. Meredith Kirtland hit .500 for the evening, with nine kills, one error and 16 total attempts.

The Tigers were defeated by Virginia 3-0 (15-1, 15-8, 15-8) in Charlottesville on Friday. Stephanie Schulz hit .375 with 11 kills, two errors and 24 attempts. Skye Frost had 13 digs and four blocks to lead Clemson.

Clemson rebounded from Friday’s loss to defeat Maryland 3-0 (15-4, 15-9, 15-7) on Saturday. Alison Coday returned from an injury to hit .409, with 13 kills, four errors and 22 attempts. She also led the team with eight digs. Schulz had seven blocks for the match.

Tigers Rank in National Poll The Clemson volleyball team was ranked 30th nationally in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches’ Poll released last Tuesday.

ACC Notes Entering last week’s matches, the Tigers led the ACC with a .280 hitting percentage and ranked second with 2.98 blocks per game…Junior Cindy Stern was second in the league with a .372 hitting percentage, 1.45 blocks per game and 4.43 kills per game…Senior middle hitter Stephanie Schulz was third in the ACC with a .343 attack percentage…Junior Skye Frost ranked second in the ACC with 0.55 service aces per game…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 seven victories to tie former head coach Linda White’s record of 138 wins at the helm of the Tiger program. Hoover has a 131-54 record over her six seasons at Clemson and is 224-85 in her nine 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 53 league wins. Only one other active ACC coach, Maryland’s Janice Kruger, ranks ahead with 75 wins.

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 With 12 block assists last week, senior Stephanie Schulz is in third place on the Tigers’ career list with 343 block assists. Schulz is 24 block assists away from Wendy Anderson’s record of 367 block assists. She has 907 career kills, ranking ninth on Clemson’s all-time list. Junior Cindy Stern ranks seventh on the career block assists list with 292 block assists. Stern is in fifth place on the career block solos list with 103 block solos.

Home, Sweet Home The Tigers are 5-1 in Jervey Gym this season. In the six matches, 4,809 fans have come out to watch Clemson, an average of 802 fans per contest. Clemson was 13-2 at home 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.