Clemson Claims Third Straight Big Orange Bash Title

CLEMSON, SC – It was a day of celebration in Clemson on Saturday around the Volleyball program, as back-to-back wins brought home a huge milestone win and an early-season tournament championship. Clemson defeated Xavier, 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-21) on Saturday night to clinch the Big Orange Bash tournament title just hours after head coach Jolene Jordan Hoover notched her 400th career victory at Clemson against South Carolina State. Clemson won all three matches 3-0, and allowed more than 20 points in just one set, the third against Xavier. The Tigers actually trailed, 17-9 against the Musketeers in the set, but came roaring back to finish on a 16-4 run and close out the championship. Clemson used kills from five different players during the run, and tallied three blocks en route to the win. For her tremendous efforts on the weekend, sophomore Kristin Faust earned Tournament MVP honors, while Mo Simmons and Sandra Adeleye were named to the All-Tournament team. Faust, an Orlando, FL native, tied Simmons with a team-high 32 kills, a tournament-leading 3.86 per set and an average of nearly five points per set, all while hitting .356 overall. On Saturday night, she also tallied 14 digs to register Clemson’s first double-double of the season. Faust was the only player in the tournament with double-figure kills in all three matches, and she also ripped off ten aces, nearly half of her total of 21 from all of last season. Simmons and Adeleye were among the top four in the tournament in kills per set, hitting percentage, and points per set. For Adeleye, it was her third career Big Orange Bash tournament honor, one of only six players in Clemson history to accomplish that feat. Other contenders for awards included junior setter Hannah Brenner and senior middle Alexa Rand. Brenner led Clemson to a .340 hitting mark in the three matches, including .289 on Saturday night, while averaging a tournament-best 11.00 assists per set, and added nine blocks, including a career-best six against Xavier. Rand led the tournament in hitting percentage by one one-hundredth of a point over Adeleye in nailing 14 kills against only four errors in 28 swings for a .393 average. She also had eight total blocks, in moving into sixth all-time in blocking with 503 in her Tiger career. Libero Natalie Patzin led the tournament with 38 digs, an average of 4.22 per set. She quietly passed the 1,000 career dig milestone early in the match, and is one just a few players all-time with more than 500 career kills and 1,000 career digs. She even added a kill on an overpass on her 1,002nd career defensive save. She entered the match with 994 for her career, and registered the 1,000th early in the second set on her way to 13 for the match. She was in double-figures in all three matches. In all, it was an efficient all-around weekend for the Tigers, who will get an interesting test next Tuesday as the Slovenian National Team will come into Jervey for an exhibition match. The Tigers hit .340 on the weekend, while holding opponents to .082 hitting and just 8.89 kills per set. Clemson was also solid in the serving game, tallying 19 aces, while allowing nine in the three matches. After strong first and second sets, Clemson found a struggle in the third. Xavier took an early lead, and stretched it all the way to eight with a 17-9 lead. Clemson tighened up, getting to within 17-12 before a Xavier timeout. Faust served into the net coming after the timeout, but back-to-back Xavier errors drew Clemson closer at 18-14. Back-to-back blocks from Adeleye and a kills from Yaz brought Clemson to within two at 21-19. A Musketeer kill stopped the bleeding temporarily, but Clemson would tie it at 20-20 behind a pair of errors from the visitors. Brenner then found Faust, and Rand knocked down a kill to give the Tigers the lead for good. Yaz followed with an ace, and after All-Tournament member Ame White committed an attack error, Rand and Faust combined for the clinching block to seal the match. Clemson will play in an exhibition on Tuesday before hosting the Clemson Classic from Aug. 31-Sept. 1. Final Standings:Clemson, 3-0Xavier, 2-1SC State, 1-2Coastal Carolina, 0-3All-Tournament Team:MVP: Kristin Faust, ClemsonMo Simmons, ClemsonSandra Adeleye, ClemsonAme White, XavierStephanie Vorherr, XavierMeghan Laffin, Coastal CarolinaPaige Webb, South Carolina State.