Clemson Volleyball Downs Winthrop, 3-1, In Big Orange Bash Nightcap

Sept. 5, 2003

CLEMSON, S.C. – The Clemson volleyball team downed Winthrop by a score of 3-1 in Friday’s nightcap at the Big Orange Bash. The Tigers picked up their second win of the season after Texas Tech defeated the College of Charleston in the second match of the afternoon. With the win, Clemson improves to 2-4 on the season, while Winthrop falls to 3-1.

Clemson dropped the first game of the contest, 30-26, as the Eagles held the Tigers to a .073 hitting percentage while posting a .225 percentage. Leslie Finn led the Tigers with four kills, and Ryane Beasley added three kills with two blocks. Winthrop’s Taryn Surbaugh led all hitters with five kills and an .833 hitting percentage, and Anna Vagstad and Surbaugh posted three kills each.

In game two, the Tigers rebounded from a slow start to edge the Eagles, 31-29. Clemson’s Finn hit .400 with seven kills, while Winthrop’s Mary Hock tallied five for the Eagles. Winthrop still outhit the Tigers .178 to .162.

The Tigers jumped out to a 10-5 lead in game three, controlling the tempo of the game. Clemson hit .312 to Winthrop’s .054 and served up three aces. Finn again led the Tigers with five kills, and Hock and Tori Grafeman added three kills each for the Eagles.

In game four, Clemson hit .245 to Winthrop’s .190 hitting percentage, and Ryane Beasley posted a team-best .700 hitting percentage behind a seven kill, no error, 10 attempts effort. Grafeman paced the Eagles with five kills, and Winthrop tallied six blocks.

Overall, Clemson hit .195 for the match behind Finn’s 20 kills. Ryane Beasley and Liz Beckham added 12 kills each, and Beckham also tallied a team-best 17 digs. Beasley led the Tigers at the net with four blocks, and Laura Jensen handed out 25 assists while Dawn Robertson added 23 assists.

Winthrop posted a .165 hitting percentage for the match and was paced by Mary Hock’s 15 kills and 11 digs. Tori Grafeman added 14 kills, and Taryn Surbaugh knocked down 13 kills with a .455 hitting percentage. Emily Heckl passed out 48 assists, while Sarah Billingsley tallied 20 digs. Surbaugh also recorded a team and match-best seven blocks (one solo).

In the second match of the afternoon, Texas Tech overcame a one-game deficit to drop the College of Charleston in four games (29-31, 31-20, 30-27, 30-15). The Red Raiders’ record stands at 5-0, while the Cougars fall to 2-3 on the season.

Texas Tech was paced by Kelly Johnson’s 29 kills and 14 digs, while Breanna Pursley added 10 kills. Laura Grote handed out a match-high 55 assists, and tallied 13 digs. Jessy Herrera recorded 24 digs, and Angela Moone and Katie Halley posted four blocks each.

Sara Davis led the College of Charleston with 14 kills and 11 digs, while Rebecca Wieters and Marie Dobrenz tallied 10 kills each. Dobrenz and Stephanie Ballard recorded 19 digs each, while Kaycie Carr had 45 assists with 11 digs. Alisa Long posted a team-best six blocks, and Dobrenz and Carr served up two aces each.

The Big Orange Bash will conclude on Saturday. Winthrop and Texas Tech will lead off the second day of the tournament with a 9:00 AM showdown, followed by Winthrop and the College of Charleston at 11:30 AM. Clemson will square off against Texas Tech in the final match of the tournament, taking the court at 2:00 PM.