Clemson Volleyball Drops Five-Game Heartbreaker To North Carolina

Oct. 25, 2003

CLEMSON, S.C. – The Clemson volleyball team dropped a five-game heartbreaker to North Carolina on Saturday afternoon in Jervey Gym. The Tar Heels improve to 16-8 overall and 7-3 in ACC action, while the Tigers fall to 14-12 on the season and 3-7 in conference play.

Clemson won game one by a score of 30-22, as Leslie Finn and Ryane Beasley posted five kills apiece. Liz Beckham posted eight digs with two kills, while Lindsey Abbott added seven digs in game one. Lori Ashton and Beasley led the Tigers at the net with two blocks each, and Stephanie Haskell handed out 13 assists for the Tigers. The Tar Heels were led by Aletha Green with three kills and two blocks and Katie Wright with three kills and one block. Meg Eckert tallied six digs and two blocks for North Carolina, while Norma Cortez had four digs with eight assists in game one.

North Carolina evened the match in game two with a 30-21 win. Finn paced Clemson with six kills and a .312 hitting percentage, while Beasley added five kills and a .417 hitting percentage. Beckham led the Tigers in digs with 12, while posting one block with two kills. Haskell handed out 13 assists with five digs for Clemson. Dani Nyenhuis led the Tar Heels with eight kills, a .389 hitting percentage and seven digs in game two. McKenzie Byrd recorded 11 assists, while Cortez tallied eight assists for North Carolina.

The Tar Heels took game three by a score of 30-23. Beasley tallied four kills with a .375 hitting percentage and two blocks for the Tigers. Finn and Abbott recorded four digs each, while Haskell had four digs with 13 assists. North Carolina was led by Nyenhuis with seven kills, a .333 hitting percentage and six digs. Cortez handed out 14 assists and Eckert served up a game-best three aces for the Tar Heels.

Clemson rebounded in game four, winning by a score of 30-26. Finn led all hitters with 11 kills and a .524 hitting percentage. Beckham added five kills with eight digs and Haskell handed out a game-best 20 assists for the Tigers. Molly Pyles paced the Tar Heels in game four with six kills, a .357 hitting percentage and eight digs. Wright added four kills with two blocks and Cortez tallied 13 assists for North Carolina in game four.

North Carolina won the decisive game five by a score of 15-9. Finn had two kills and Beasley posted two blocks for the Tigers. Haskell handed out five assists in the game. Wright paced North Carolina with four kills while Green recorded two blocks. Cortez dished out seven assists for the Tar Heels.

Individually for Clemson, Finn recorded 27 kills with 13 digs and two blocks, while Ryane Beasley added 16 kills and eight blocks. Liz Beckham tallied a match, career and Jervey Gym record, posting 33 defensive saves for the Tigers. Her 33 digs place her fifth in Clemson record books for most defensive saves in a match. Abbott posted 21 digs and Haskell dished out a match-best 64 assists with 13 digs for the Tigers.

Nyenhuis led the Tar Heels with 22 kills and 22 digs, while Pyles tallied 17 kills, 23 digs and three blocks (one solo). Wright tallied a team-best .385 hitting percentage with 14 kills and Green led North Carolina in blocks with nine (one solo). Cortez handed out 50 assists, while Byrd tallied 17 assists for the Tar Heels.

Clemson returns to action on Oct. 31 as the Tigers travel to College Park, MD. The match between the Tigers and Terrapins is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.