Clemson Volleyball 3-1 After First Week of Action

September 7, 1998

CLEMSON, SC – Clemson (3-1) will host Auburn and Central Florida this weekend in the Big Orange Bash. Clemson holds an 11-3 series lead over Auburn, after taking a 3-2 come-from-behind victory in Auburn last season. The Tigers have a 6-3 series advantage over Central Florida. The Golden Knights defeated the Tigers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year.

Tigers Compete in 7-Up/Billiken Invitational

Clemson defeated Georgia Southern 3-0 (15-2, 15-2, 15-12) and Eastern Illinois 3-0 (15-11, 15-6, 15-5) in St. Louis last weekend. St. Louis defeated the Tigers 3-2 (0-15, 8-15, 15-12, 15-12, 18-16) in the tournaments final match. The Tigers placed five players on the all-tournament team, and junior Cindy Stern was named Tournament MVP. Stern finished the weekend with 18 blocks, 24 digs, three service aces, and a .397 hitting percentage (38 kills, nine errors, 73 attack attempts). Senior middle hitter Stephanie Schulz led all Clemson hitters with a .615 attack percentage (36 kills, four errors, 52 attempts). Schulz recorded 16 blocks in the three matches. Junior outside hitter Alison Coday hit .352 for the weekend, with 35 kills, 10 errors and 71 total attacks. Coday had 22 digs in the tournament. Sophomore setter Melissa Kudelka tallied 116 assists, 28 digs and three service aces for the weekend. Freshman right side hitter Jodi Steffes had two aces, 20 digs and seven blocks to complete Clemsons all-Tournament selections.

Defending ACC Champions

The Tigers captured the ACC Championship last season, winning the ACC Tournament in Raleigh, NC. The title was Clemsons first in the 21-year history of the Tiger volleyball program. Clemsons 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 14 victories to surpass former head coach Linda Whites record of 138 wins at the helm of the Tiger program. Hoover has a 124-50 record over her five seasons at Clemson and is 217-81 in her seven years as a head coach. Hoovers .725 winning percentage places her 17th nationally among Division I head coaches. She ranks third among ACC coaches with 50 league wins. Only one other active ACC coach, Marylands Janice Kruger, ranks ahead with 75 wins.

Tigers Receive Votes in National Poll

The Clemson volleyball team received 23 votes in the USA TODAY/AVCA Coaches Top 25 Preseason Poll released August 13.

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 Canadas national team for nightly competition. “It was an overwhelming experience at first. It was the greatest collection of talent I have ever been around. Playing with that caliber of athletes forced me to compete at a higher level, and that obviously should help my game at Clemson this year.”

Current Tigers Among Career Leaders

With 11 block assists last weekend, senior Stephanie Schulz moved into fifth place on the Tigers career list with 306 block assists. Schulz is 61 block assists away from Wendy Andersons record of 367 block assists. She has 856 career kills, ranking tenth on Clemsons all-time list. Junior Cindy Stern ranks sixth on the career block assists list with 257 block assists. Stern ranks seventh on the career block solos list with 83 block solos. Schulz and Stern entered the season ranked fourth (.283) and fifth (.279), respectively, on the Clemson career hitting percentage list. Junior outside hitter Alison Coday ranked tenth at the beginning of the season with a .257 career hitting percentage.

Home, Sweet Home

Clemson was 13-2 in Jervey Gym 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 Clemsons 1997 home matches were attended by standing-room only crowds of over 1,000 fans. In the Tigers season-opener this year, 823 fans came out to see Clemson defeat Georgia.