Clemson Volleyball Downs Ole Miss, 3-1, in Georgia Tech Courtyard Classic

Sept. 12, 2009

ATLANTA – The Clemson volleyball (6-2, 0-1 ACC) team rebounded from a first-set loss to defeat the Ole Miss Rebels (6-3), 3-1 (22-25, 28-26, 25-12, 25-19), in the second match of the Courtyard Classic. Senior Lia Proctor led the Clemson attack with 19 kills, while freshman Natalie Patzin recorded a career-high 18 kills, including eight in the first set. Clemson held Mississippi to a .089 hitting mark for the match.

Clemson, coming off a difficult five-set loss to Georgia Tech only 12 hours earlier, came out a bit sluggish in the first set loss, before gutting out a 28-26 second set win. The Tigers promptly turned up the defensive intensity, winning the final two sets by a combined score of 50-31.

Senior libero Didem Ege led the Tiger defense, picking up 22 digs. Cansu Ozdemir, Proctor, and Lisa Jedlicka had five. Jedlicka also recorded 6 kills in 14 attempts for a .357 hitting pct. for Clemson. The Tiger defense didn’t allow Ole Miss to hit above the .133 mark in any set, and that was the set the Tigers dropped. Mississippi had 35 attack errors in the match.

Proctor’s 19 kills and Patzin’s 18 kills carried the load offensively, while freshman Alexa Rand added nine of her own. Kelsey Murphy added 43 assists to go with her four blocks and 13 digs for a solid all-around game.

Ole Miss took control early, taking a 7-3 lead in the first set. They were able to stretch it to 18-11 on a Katie Norris kill. Clemson responded with a 5-1 run to close the margin to 20-16, and got as close as 24-21 before losing the set, 25-22. Patzin carried the Tigers offensively, registering eight kills in the set. Proctor also had six kills.

The second set saw Clemson take control early using an 11-2 run to take a 20-14 lead. However, Mississippi fought back with a 9-2 run of their own, taking a 23-22 lead. The teams traded points before a pair of attack errors sealed the set for Clemson, 28-26.

The third set was all Clemson, which jumped out the a 17-5 lead. Alexa Rand had five kills and a block in the run. She would later add another of each as Clemson cruised to a 25-12 set win and a 2-1 advantage in the match.

The Tigers grabbed a 13-8 edge in the fourth set behind kills from Jedlicka and Proctor. The Tigers stretched the lead to eight at 21-13 on another Jedlicka kill. Emily Kvitle had consecutive aces to bring the Rebels to 24-18, but hit her third serve into the net to clinch the match for the Tigers.

Clemson returns to action at 4:30 pm, taking on Southeast Missouri State ,before heading back to Clemson. The Tigers host Michigan State, Furman, and Presbyterian on Friday and Saturday for the Clemson Classic.