Clemson Volleyball This Week

Nov. 1, 1999

Clemson (23-1, 11-1 ACC) will play host to Georgia Tech Tuesday. The Tigers defeated the Yellow Jackets 3-1 earlier this season in Atlanta to push their series lead to 26-7. Clemson won two out of the three matches between the teams last season, defeating Georgia Tech 3-0 at home before losing 3-1 in Atlanta. The Tigers beat the Yellow Jackets 3-2 in the first round of the ACC Tournament.

The Tigers will travel to Tallahassee this weekend. On Friday Clemson will play at Florida State. The Seminoles lead the series 13-8, but the Tigers took a 3-0 win over Florida State earlier this season in Clemson. The two teams split their meetings last season. Clemson won 3-2 in Tigertown, and Florida State won 3-1 in Tallahassee.

Clemson will play at Florida A&M on Saturday. The Tigers won 3-0 last season in Jervey Gym in the first meeting between the two schools.

Clemson Ranked Among Nation’s Leaders The Clemson volleyball team is ranked 14th nationally for the second week in a row according to the latest AVCA Division I Coaches Poll. The team received 725 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 then 30th-ranked Notre Dame, and on September 26 Clemson beat then 21st-ranked Arkansas. On October 22 the Tigers beat 25th-ranked North Carolina. Tigers defeat Cavaliers, 3-0

Clemson defeated Virginia 3-0 (15-11, 15-10, 15-8) Friday night in front of 944 fans at Jervey Gym. The Tigers outhit the Cavaliers .287 to .153 in the match. Clemson took an early lead in each game before allowing Virginia to close the gap, however, in each game the Tigers succeeded in pulling away for the win.

Senior Emily Gorla led the team with a .414 attack percentage, tallying 12 kills, no errors and 29 attempts. Senior Cindy Stern led the Tigers with 17 kills, and had six errors and 35 attempts for a .314 attack percentage. She also added five blocks to lead Clemson. Sophomore Jodi Steffes had 12 kills, with four errors and 27 attempts for a .296 attack percentage.

The Tigers had three players in double figures for digs. Senior Heidi Cooper led the team with 12 digs, while freshman setter Jessi Betcher added 11 digs. Steffes had 10 digs for the team, and Betcher paced the Tigers with 51 assists in the match.

Tigers defeat Terrapins, 3-0 Clemson defeated Maryland 3-0 (15-4, 15-13, 15-6) Saturday night at Jervey Gym. The Tigers outhit the Terrapins .204 to .009 in the match.

Clemson hit .348 in game one, taking a 15-4 victory, then pulled away at the end of game two for a 15-13 win. With the Tigers leading 4-3 in game three, sophomore Jodi Steffes served as Clemson won six-straight points. Maryland cut the lead to 10-4, then Emily Gorla served three-straight points for the Tigers as Clemson came away with a 15-6 win.

Senior Alison Coday led Clemson with 11 kills, and Gorla added eight kills. Senior Cindy Stern and Steffes each had seven kills for the Tigers. Steffes hit .333 for the evening, with seven kills, two errors and 15 attempts.

Freshman Jessi Betcher led the Tigers with 33 assists, while Stern paced the team with four service aces and three blocks. Junior Heidi Cooper, Betcher and Gorla tied for the Clemson lead with seven digs.

Coday Ties Tiger Record In Clemson’s 3-2 win over North Carolina on October 22, senior outside hitter Alison Coday tied a Tiger match record with 32 kills. Robin Kibben had 32 kills against Auburn in 1993, and Julie Rodriguez recorded 32 kills versus Florida State in 1996. Coday had a 30-30 performance versus the Tar Heels, finishing the match with 30 digs.

Tigers Among Nation’s Statistical Leaders According to NCAA statistics, Clemson freshman setter Jessi Betcher led the nation through the matches of Oct. 24, with 14.49 assists per game. Senior middle blocker Cindy Stern ranked 19th nationally with a .374 attack percentage. As a team, Clemson ranked second in assists (15.92 per game), ninth in kills (17.28 per game), 15th with a .282 hitting percentage and 15th in digs (18.66 per game).

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. Tigers Set Record With 16-Match Winning Streak

Clemson’s 3-0 victory over Florida State on October 8 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

By the Numbers So far this season the Tigers are outhitting their opponents .280 to .152. Clemson has 136 service aces in the 24 matches, while Tiger opponents have just 74 aces in the span. Clemson has 65 block solos, compared to 43 from Tiger opponents, and the Tigers have 190.5 total team blocks versus 167 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 September 25, 1992 30 First 10 matches of 1994 season 27 First 9 matches of 1999 seasonTigers Seeking Records Several Tigers are among Clemson’s career leaders in many categories. Senior Cindy Stern ranks second in block assists (425), just seven block assists shy of the record set last year by Stephanie Schulz. She ranks third in kills (1587), tied for fourth in block solos (146) and fourth in attempts (3624).

Senior Alison Coday ranks fourth in kills (1521) and third in attempts (3777), while junior Missy Kudelka is in fifth place on the Clemson all-time list with 1637 assists. Freshman setter Jessi Betcher ranks ninth with 997 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 166-61 record at Clemson and is 259-92 for her career.

Hoover has a stellar 78-36 record in ACC matches for a .684 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 Illinois 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 14.45 assists per game. She has 27 service aces in 69 games, for a 0.39 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 second on the team with a .342 attack percentage (106 kills, 28 errors, 278 attempts). Benson has 11 block solos and 40 block assists for 51 total blocks, second on the Clemson team.

There’s No Place Like Home The Tigers have an 11-1 record in Jervey Gym this season. So far, 10,130 fans have come out to watch the team at home, an average of 844 fans per match. Through last week’s matches, the Tigers ranked 24th nationally in home attendance. 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.

The Tigers will face Georgia Tech at home on Tuesday. The first 500 fans will receive a free t-shirt. Admission is free to all Clemson home volleyball matches.