Clemson Falls at South Carolina on Friday

COLUMBIA, SC – Clemson fell to South Carolina, 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-19) in its first match of the Carolina Clash on Friday night at the Volleyball Competition Facility in Columbia, SC. South Carolina had just six attack errors all night in hitting .321 in the match and improving to 9-0, while Clemson dropped to 6-2 on the season. Clemson will return to action quickly, taking on Winthrop at 1:30 pm on Saturday, and then returning for a 5:00 pm match with UAB before returning to Clemson late Saturday night. Mo Simmons led Clemson with 14 kills, and Sandra Adeleye (10-1-16 .500) and Kristin Faust (10-8-31 .065) each nailed ten, with many coming from Kamryn Sherman, who had a season-high 27 assists in the match. South Carolina’s Juliette Thevenin had 15 kills to lead all players. The match was played in front of 1,512 fans, the third-largest crowd in VCF history. Clemson had won two in a row in the series, but fell to 22-35 all-time against the Gamecocks. The Tigers were never really able to score in bunches, as South Carolina’s side out percentage stood at .698 in the match. Clemson fell despite having more kills (44-42), more digs (58-49), and more assists (41-40). Offensively, South Carolina fed off the crowd, accumulating just six attack errors on the night and hitting .321 in the match with 42 kills in 112 swings. Clemson wasn’t able to slow down the attack with blocking, tallying just three on the night. Conversely, the Gamecocks stepped in front of ten Clemson attacks for points. Last season, Clemson halted South Carolina’s 7-0 start with a 3-0 win in Charleston, but could not duplicate the feat on Friday. It was Clemson’s first match at the VCF since the 2008 season. The Tigers seemed to react well to the intense environment early, opening a 13-10 lead as Hannah Brenner spread the ball around to various attackers. After Clemson took that lead, however, the Gamecocks roared back with a 9-2 run behind four blocks. South Carolina took a 23-18 lead, but Clemson was not done, scoring five of the next six points to pull within one at 24-23, but South Carolina was able to close the set. Clemson had 19 kills to South Carolina’s 13, but the five blocks made the difference in the set. Clemson took an early lead in the second set, as Kamryn Sherman stepped in at setter, and found Simmons and Adeleye for a series of kills. The teams stayed within one point of one another, trading side-outs on 12 straight points. South Carolina struck with another late run however, taking a 17-15 lead, and turning it into a 23-16 advantage. Clemson closed to four, but got no closer as the Gamecocks closed the set, 25-20. South Carolina took an early five-point lead in the third set, before Clemson quickly cut it to one. The teams traded points much through the middle of the set, but the Gamecocks found another late 5-0 run to give themselves a comfortable distance in the set, and closed it down, 25-19.