Clemson Volleyball Falls to 14-Seed Oregon in NCAA Tournament

Dec. 4, 2009

LEXNGTON, KY – The Clemson Volleyball team fell, 3-0, to 14-seed Oregon in the first round of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament in Lexington, KY. Sandra Adeleye led Clemson with 14 kills, but Oregon (20-9, 9-9 Pac-10) hit .405 in the match, winning 25-17, 25-21, 25-20.

Clemson (23-10, 13-7 ACC) has made an appearance in three straight tournaments, but failed to advance against the nation’s #17-ranked team.

The Tigers got a strong effort offensively across the board, hitting .255 as a team. Senior all-ACC performer Kelsey Murphy had 35 assists in the three sets to go along with six digs, four kills, and three blocks. Murphy finishes her career as the only player in ACC history to register 5,000 assists, 1,000 digs, and 400 blocks. She ranks in Clemson’s all-time top ten in each of those categories.

Senior All-ACC selection Lia Proctor started slow, but ended with nine kills. The senior from Spartanburg, SC is ninth on Clemson’s all-time kills list.

Didem Ege had her 23rd consecutive match with double-digit digs with 12. She finishes her career with 2,303 digs, the ACC’s all-time leader and only the 13th player in NCAA history to surpass the 2,300 dig plateau.

The Tigers registered six blocks in the match, led by Adeleye and Murphy, who each added three.

Serenat Yaz had seven kills in the match, third among all Tigers.

Oregon had three players with double-figure kills, led by Sonja Newcombe’s 13. Heather Meyers and KAtherine Fisher each finished with 11 for the Ducks. Setter Nevena Djodjevic, who entered the match second in the nation in assists per set had 46 in only three sets.

The Ducks took a quick 8-5 edge on a 5-1 run behind two aces from Heather Meyers. The Tigers closed to within one at 12-11, but an 8-1 run gave Oregon a commanding 20-12 lead. The Ducks hit .316 in the set, and All-Pac-10 honoree Sonja Newcombe had five kills in the set. Freshman All-ACC Team member Sandra Adeleye had five kills in the set as well, as the Tigers racked up four blocks, but fell in the set, 25-17.

Clemson fought back early in the second set, taking a 10-6 lead. Oregon went on a run to knot the score at 12-12, and the teams traded points for much of the set. There were seven tied scores in the set going out as far a 17-17. Oregon then pounded out a 5-1 run behind three Dana Stephenson kills, giving the Ducks a 22-18 edge. Clemson pulled to within two at 23-21 on a pair of Adeleye kills, but couldn’t catch the Ducks, who had 21 kills in the set. Oregon took a 2-0 lead into the locker room with a 25-21 set win.

In the third set, Clemson held a lead from the outset until a Meyers kill gave the Ducks a 15-14 lead. The Ducks were in the medst of an 8-2 run that helped distance them to pull out the match. Proctor had five kills in the set and Adeleye had four, but Oregon hit .421. For the match, they registered 54 kills to only nine errors, six of which were Tiger blocks.

Clemson closes the season 23-10 and 13-7 in the ACC, good enough for fourth. Four Tigers were named All-ACC, including Proctor, Murphy, Ege, and Adeleye. Ege was also named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year, while Adeleye and Alexa Rand earned All-Freshman honors.