Clemson Volleyball This Week

Oct. 18, 1999

Clemson (18-1, 7-1 ACC) will play at Georgia State (11-14, 3-3 TAAC) on Tuesday night. The Tigers hold a 7-2 series advantage after defeating the Panthers 3-0 in Clemson last year.

The Tigers will play at North Carolina on Friday. Two weeks ago the Tar Heels handed the Tigers their first loss of the season, increasing their series lead to 30-11. North Carolina won all three meetings between the two schools last year.

Clemson plays at NC State on Saturday. The Tigers defeated the Wolfpack 3-0 two weeks ago in Jervey Gym. NC State leads the series 17-15, but Clemson won both matches between the two teams last season.

Clemson Ranked Among Nation’s Leaders The Clemson volleyball team is ranked 15th nationally according to the latest AVCA Division I Coaches Preseason Poll, dropping from a 13th-place ranking last week. The team received 596 votes in the national poll.

At the Michigan State Volleyball Classic, the Tigers defeated Texas A&M, ranked 16th in the preseason, and Michigan State, ranked 22nd in the preseason. In the Big Orange Bash the Tigers defeated the 30th-ranked Notre Dame. On September 26 Clemson beat then 21st-ranked Arkansas.

Tigers Defeat Terrapins 3-0 Alison Coday and Cindy Stern each recorded 15 kills and Jessi Betcher notched 41 assists, leading Clemson to a 15-9, 15-8, 15-9 win over Maryland Friday night at Ritchie Coliseum.

The Tigers broke open a 3-3 tie in the first game on their way to a 15-8 win. The Terps responded by racing out to a 3-0 advantage in the second game, but Clemson went on a 15-5 tear to win 15-8.

In the third game, the two teams battled to a 4-4 tie and then went through six consecutive side outs. The Tigers then went on an 11-5 run to clinch the match.

Coday recorded 19 digs in the match, while sophomore Jodi Steffes had 11 digs for the Tigers. Seniors Emily Gorla and Heidi Cooper each added 10 digs. Steffes led the team with three service aces.

Tigers defeat Cavaliers 3-0 Senior outside hitter Alison Coday tallied a match-high 17 kills and added 16 digs to lead the 15th-ranked Clemson volleyball team to a 3-0 (15-5, 15-6, 15-13) victory over Virginia on Saturday evening at University Hall.

Clemson hit .278 in winning game one 15-6. The Tigers took an early 6-1 lead and did not relinquish it. The Cavaliers jumped out to a 6-2 advantage in the second game, but Emily Gorla served six-straight points to give the Tigers the lead for good, 8-6. They went on to a 15-6 victory in game two. Virginia built a 6-4 lead in the third game, but Clemson tallied six-consecutive points to take a 10-6 edge. The ‘Hoos battled back to tie the game at 11-11 and eventually took a 13-12 lead. The Tigers scored the final three points to win game three 15-13 and clinch the match.

Clemson hit .277 in the match, committing just 14 errors while connecting on 62 kills in 173 attempts. Virginia hit only .160 in the contest (58 kills, 28 errors, 187 attempts). The Tigers also held a 93-81 edge in digs.

Senior Cindy Stern recorded 14 kills and 13 digs, while Gorla tied for team-high honors with 18 digs and added 12 kills for the Tigers. Sophomore Jodi Steffes also notched 18 digs. Freshman setter Jessi Betcher dished out 49 assists and posted 15 digs.

Tigers Set Record With 16-Match Winning Streak Clemson’s 3-0 victory over Florida State last week set a Tiger volleyball record, giving the team 16-straight wins. The previous record of 15 consecutive matches won was set in 1992 when the Tigers opened the season 15-0.

Longest Clemson Volleyball Streaks of Consecutive Matches Won 16 First 16 matches of 1999 season 15 First 15 matches of 1992 season 14 First 14 matches of 1994 season First 14 matches of 1997 season

Three Tournament Trophies Clemson has won all three tournaments the team has competed in this season. The Tigers defeated then #16 Texas A&M, preseason #22 Michigan State, Cleveland State and Eastern Kentucky at the Michigan State Volleyball Classic to open the season.

Clemson won the Big Orange Bash by defeating Kentucky and #30 Notre Dame, then beat Illinois State and Furman to win the Clemson Invitational.

By the Numbers So far this season the Tigers are outhitting their opponents .289 to .155. Clemson has 111 service aces in the seventeen matches, while Tiger opponents have just 60 aces in the span. Clemson has 47 block solos, compared to 24 from Tiger opponents, and the Tigers have 147.5 total team blocks versus 123.5 total team blocks by opposing teams.

Tigers Open Season With 27-Game Winning Streak Clemson won its first nine matches in three games this season. The 27-game winning streak is the third-longest in Tiger volleyball history.

Longest Clemson Volleyball Streaks of Consecutive Games Won 39 September 5, 1992 to Sept. 25, 1992 30 First 10 matches of 1994 season 27 First 9 matches of 1999 season

Tigers Preseason ACC Favorites Clemson was selected by the league’s nine head coaches as the preseason favorite for the 1999 ACC volleyball season. The Tigers collected 77 votes out of a possible 81. The complete poll is as follows:

  1  CLEMSON        6  Wake Forest  2  Virginia       7  Duke  3  Georgia Tech   8  Maryland  4  Florida State  9  NC State  5  N. Carolina

Tigers Seeking Records Several Tigers are among Clemson’s career leaders in many categories. Senior Cindy Stern ranks second in block assists (414), just 18 block assists shy of the record set last year by Stephanie Schulz. She ranks third in kills (1513), fifth in block solos (139) and fifth in attempts (3445).

Senior Alison Coday ranks fourth in kills (1452) and fourth in attempts (3534), while junior Missy Kudelka is in fifth place on the Clemson all-time list with 1545 assists.

Hoover Holds Clemson Coaching Record Head Coach Jolene Jordan Hoover, now in her seventh season as the Tigers’ head coach, became Clemson’s all-time winningest volleyball coach last season. She holds a 161-61 record at Clemson and is 254-92 for her career.

Hoover has a stellar 74-36 record in ACC matches for a .673 winning percentage, best among active league head coaches.

Hoover was inducted into the Illinois State Hall of Fame this fall. Hoover, the 1997 ACC Coach of the Year, was a three-time All-Gateway Conference performer during her playing days at IIllinois State and the league’s player of the year in 1985. The Redbirds won Gateway titles and made NCAA appearances in all four of her seasons.

Over her final three seasons, ISU was 101-30 and was ranked as high as No. 9 nationally. Hoover still ranks among Illinois State’s all-time statistical leaders in nine different categories, including block assists, block solos, total blocks, service aces and assists.

Fabulous Freshmen Clemson’s two freshmen are making quite an impact in their rookie season. Setter Jessi Betcher of Boulder, CO, is averaging 14.72 assists per game. She has 22 service aces in 58 games, for a 0.43 average per game. Betcher has been named to the all-tournament team of all three tournaments the team has competed in this season.

Middle hitter Mallory Benson of Angola, IN, is third on the team with a .373 attack percentage (88 kills, 19 errors, 185 attempts). Benson has seven block solos and 30 block assists for 37 total blocks, third on the Clemson team.

There’s No Place Like Home The Tigers have a 9-1 record in Jervey Gym this season. So far, 8,465 fans have come out to watch the team at home, an average of 847 fans per match. Earlier this season versus South Carolina, Clemson’s fans set a new Jervey Gym attendance record of 1,367.

Clemson recorded a 12-2 record in Jervey Gym last season and ranked 26th nationally in home attendance. Under head coach Jolene Jordan Hoover, the Tigers are 81-20 (.802) in Jervey Gym.

Admission is free to all Clemson home volleyball matches.