Clemson Volleyball To Travel To Duke And Wake Forest This Weekend

Oct. 8, 2003

CLEMSON, SC – The Clemson volleyball team will travel to Duke and Wake Forest this weekend. The Tigers will take on Duke Friday night at 7:00 p.m., then on Saturday, Clemson will play Wake Forest beginning at 6:00 p.m.

The Tigers enter this weekend with a 12-7 overall record and a 2-2 mark in league play, after posting a 1-1 record over the weekend. Clemson defeated Virginia 3-1 on Friday, but fell to Maryland 3-1 on Saturday. The Tigers are 3-2 on the road this season with wins over Coastal Carolina, Georgia and NC State.

Clemson’s Lori Ashton is only three kills shy of reaching 1,000 career kills. The Waldorf, MD native has 997 career kills, and needs only 40 more kills to break into Clemson’s top 10 list for most career kills. This season, the middle hitter has tallied 249 kills with a team-best .293 hitting percentage. She is Clemson’s top blocker with 88 blocks (33 solo) and a 1.24 blocks per game average.

Junior Leslie Finn leads the Tigers with 292 kills and a 4.23 kills per game average. Finn is second on the team in digs with 188 and has recorded 20 service aces. Red-shirt junior Ryane Beasley has 207 kills with 80 blocks (14 solo), while freshman Liz Beckham has tallied 191 kills with 186 digs. Senior Lindsey Abbott has a team-best 258 digs with 3.69 digs per game average, and sophomore Carly Hill has served up a team-high 21 service aces. Junior Stephanie Haskell has handed out 608 assists with a 10.31 assists per game average and 122 digs.

Duke enters this weekend with a 5-11 overall record and a 1-3 mark in ACC action, after defeating Florida State 3-0 last weekend. Tassy Rufai leads the team with 192 kills and a 3.62 kills per game average. Krista Dill has tallied 168 kills with a team-best .307 hitting percentage. Dill leads the Blue Devils at the net with 100 blocks (18 solo) and a 1.61 blocks per game average. Nana Meriwether has 131 kills with 81 digs and 40 blocks, while Tealle Hunkus has recorded 108 kills with a .273 hitting percentage. Stephanie Istvan has handed out 429 assists with a team-high 191 digs, and Arielle Linderman has 266 assists with 54 digs and 18 blocks.

Clemson has a 14-25 record against Duke with an 11-11 mark under head coach Jolene Jordan Hoover. The last time the Tigers beat the Blue Devils in Durham was in 1999, when Clemson won the ACC regular season championship.

Wake Forest has a 13-3 overall record and a 3-1 record in conference play, after defeating Florida State 3-1 last Saturday. The Demon Deacons have posted conference wins over Virginia, Duke and Florida State. Wake Forest is led by Valerie Rydberg with 188 kills, a 3.84 kills per game average, 36 service aces and 190 digs. Christy Williams has posted 166 kills with a team-best .406 hitting percentage and 44 blocks (six solo). Jessica Huff has tallied 127 kills with a team-high 45 blocks, while Kim Stern has 116 kills with a .290 hitting percentage and 25 blocks (two solo). Erin Borhart has recorded 694 assists with a 12.62 assists per game average, and Natasha Schaeffer has tallied 172 digs with a 3.19 digs per game average.

The Tigers hold a 15-6 all-time record against Wake Forest after splitting last year’s matches with the Demon Deacons. Clemson boasts an 8-2 all-time record against Wake Forest on the Demon Deacons’ home court.