Clemson Volleyball To Travel To Georgia Tech Friday

Sept. 27, 2001

CLEMSON, S.C. – The Tigers will take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Sept. 28 in Atlanta. Georgia Tech enters the match with a 6-3 overall record and a 2-1 mark in conference play. Tech is on a two-game win streak with victories over Wake Forest and Florida State, after dropping its season opener to Duke, 3-2.

Clemson is 27-9 all-time against Georgia Tech, and the Tigers hold a 9-6 advantage over the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta.

Senior Jodi Steffes currently leads the Clemson hitting corps with 166 kills and a 4.26 kills per game average. She also boasts a .308 hitting percentage and has served a team-best 14 aces. Against Wake Forest, Steffes recorded a double-double with 24 kills and 16 digs. She also tallied over 20 kills against Loyola Marymount, Georgia and Wright State while posting at least 10 digs against Loyola Marymount, Wright State, Georgia and Oral Roberts.

Junior Jessi Betcher leads the Tigers in assists with 503 and is averaging 12.90 assists per game. She is also leading the team in digs with 106 (2.72 dpg). Betcher posted a season-best 64 assists with 11 digs against Oral Roberts. She has also handed out over 55 assists against Wright State (63), Wake Forest (60), Loyola Marymount (58) and Georgia (58). Betcher tallied a season-high 22 digs against Loyola Marymount and added at least ten digs against Wake Forest (14), Georgia (14) and Colorado (10).

Junior Anne Berki is the Tigers’ top blocker with 32 blocks (six solo). She recorded a double-double at Georgia with 10 blocks and 12 kills with a .321 hitting percentage. Berki tallied at least five blocks against Loyola Marymount (9), Oral Roberts (6) and Appalachian State (5).

Senior Meredith Kirtland ranks second on the team in service aces with nine, and has a team-best digs per game average with 2.96. She recorded two aces each against Loyola Marymount, Oral Roberts, Appalachian State and UNC Wilmington. Kirtland has tallied at least 11 digs in five matches this season – against Loyola Marymount (15), Oral Roberts (13), Wright State (12), Georgia (11) and Wake Forest (11).

The Yellow Jackets are led by Maja Pachale, who has tallied 145 kills (4.68 kpg) and has a .303 hitting percentage. Kele Eveland has a team-best 353 assists (11.39 apg) and 88 digs (2.84 dpg). Lynette Moster has tallied 17 service aces and Kyleen Bell has 34 total blocks (five solo) with a 1.10 blocks per game average.

Clemson dropped both of its 2000 regular season matches to Georgia Tech. The Tigers lost a 0-3 (7-15, 5-15, 6-15) decision to the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta, and lost 0-3 (12-15, 10-15, 10-15) to Georgia Tech at home.