Clemson Splits Doubleheader

CLEMSON, S.C. – Clemson (4-5) handed ETSU (6-2) its first loss of the season in five sets (25-18, 25-17, 26-28, 16-25, 15-13) before falling to Tulane (5-3) in three (23-25, 19-25, 16-25) to finish its portion of the Clemson Classic. The all-tournament team will be decided tomorrow night following the finale as Tulane takes on ETSU at 7:00 p.m.

“As a team, I loved the way we responded to a difficult night last night,” said head coach Hugh Hernesman. “We showed great maturity and belief in ourselves to come back and get a win over a very solid ETSU team.”

Leah Perri was dominant once again to begin the day, converting on 25 of her 57 swings with just seven errors, giving her a .316 hitting percentage. However, it was Kailey Harvell who consistently came through when her teammates needed her the most, finishing with 17 kills and just 4 errors on 34 attempts for a .382 hitting percentage. Both finished with double-doubles as Perri registered 12 digs while Harvell finished with 11. Both also aced the Buccaneers twice. Perri denied ETSU hitters four times while Harvell finished with three, one of which being a solo block to win match point.

“I thought this morning, Kailey took her game to a different level.  She had a lot of big moments throughout the match, but there were none bigger than that kill to give us the lead in the fifth and then the solo stuff block to win the match.”

Megan McGinley also became a force late, finishing with a .368 hitting percentage thanks to eight kills on 19 attempts and just one error to go along with her five blocks. Freshman, Jaden Light was a force up front again, this time denying opposing hitters six times in the middle.

Keely Hayes orchestrated another efficient offensive performance with her 52 assists leading to a .257 hitting percentage. Defensively, Clemson had four Tigers finish with 10 digs or more as Emily Curtis led the way at libero with 16 and Sydney Moseley joined her, Perri and Harvell with 11 on the afternoon.

To finish the night, McGinley continued to excel offensively, dropping 10 kills on Tulane with just two errors and 19 attempts for a .421 hitting percentage. Perri and Harvell joined her in double figures as Perri finished with 13 kills and Harvell earned 11. Curtis finished with 13 digs and two aces at libero while Hayes was just two digs shy of a double-double as she set the offense to 32 assists.

Clemson’s next test is slated for September 16-17 in State College, Pa., as the Tigers will take on Penn State, Howard and Rhode Island in the Penn State Tournament.