Clemson Volleyball Wins DePaul Challenge with 3-0 Record

Sept. 5, 2009

CHICAGO – The Clemson Volleyball team posted a 3-0 (25-9, 25-18, 25-13) victory over DePaul on Saturday to move to 5-1 on the young season. The victory gave Clemson the DePaul Challenge title, and Illinois natives Didem Ege were named to the all-tournament team. Clemson made its way through the tournament field without dropping a single set.

“I was really impressed with how well we played on the first road trip,” said head coach Jolene Jordan Hoover. “It was fun to be in Chicago, where some of our players are from, and be able to play in front of their friends and family.”

The Tigers set the tone defensively, holding the Blue Demons to a -.030 hitting percentage and recording 11 blocks, including eight by Lia Proctor had nine kills and no errors in 14 chances and also added 12 digs. The Tigers hit .368 for the match.

“I thought we passed really well this weekend and served aggressively,” said Hoover. “Kelsey did a really nice job moving the ball around offensively, and a lot of that was due to Didem’s defense. Natalie was probably our most consistent hitter other than Cansu, and I thought both played outstanding.”

It was a weekend of milestones for the Tigers, especially Murphy. The DePaul match marked the 100 match played of her career. In the first match of the tournament, she passed 4,000 assists in her career, and passed the 1,000 dig mark with eight against DePaul. She also moved into the top-ten in block assists in Clemson history, and played against her sister in the Western Illinois match.

Ege stretched her consecutive matches with double-digit digs streak to 51 matches and moved into ninth on the ACC’s all-time list in total digs and moved over 1,800 for her career.

Clemson came out firing on all cylinders behind Cansu Ozdemir, who picked up two kills and an ace on the way to a 9-1 lead. The Tigers stretched the lead 21-6 after four well-placed kills from Proctor, and clinched the set with a Rand kill.

The second set played much closer, as DePaul cranked out an 11-6 lead. Hoover called a timeout to rein things in, and the team responded with a 14-2 run that included four blocks from Rand and Patzin. The Tigers held on after a late DePaul rally to win the set, 25-18.

After dropping the first point in the third set, the Tigers reeled off the next eight points in a row. DePAul coulnd’t get any closer than six the rest of the way, as three blocks from Rand and Murphy and consecutive kills form Proctor put the match out of reach. Lisa Jedlicka recorded the 24th point and a DePaul attack error clinched the win for the Tigers.

The Tigers will return to Clemson on Sunday and prepare for the Georgia Tech Courtyard Classic in Atlanta from Friday to Saturday. Clemson will play Ole Miss, Georgia Tech, Southeast Missouri.