No. 9 Florida Topples Clemson, 3-0, in Gainesville

Sept. 3, 2011

GAINESVILLE, FL – The Clemson volleyball team dropped a three-set decision (14-25, 16-25, 18-25) to the No. 9 Florida Gators in the finale of the Campus USA Credit Union Classic in front of 4,212 fans at the O’Connell Center. Clemson fell to 4-2 on the season, while the Gators are now 6-0. Clemson will head to Orlando after the match in order to take on No. 3 Southern California at the Orlando Volleyball Academy at noon on Sunday before returning to Clemson.

Sophomore Mo Simmons was named to the All-Tournament team after compiling 25 kills and ten blocks on the weekend.

Florida’s defense kept Clemson off-balance for much of the match, and their aggressive serving forced the Tigers out of system on several occasions, leading to overpasses. The Gators held Clemson to .024 hitting and had ten blocks in shutting down many of Clemson’s offensive weapons. Sandra Adeleye had seven kills to lead the Tigers, while Simmons had six and Serenat Yaz added five.

Florida took control early in the first set jumping out to a 6-3 lead behind Chloe Mann, who finished the match with nine kills in 11 swings. Clemson closed to three at 12-9 on a kill from Adeleye, but that was as close as the Tigers would get the rest of the set, as Florida went on a 13-5 run to close the set.

The second set was tight early, with Clemson taking a 7-5 lead after an Alexa Rand block. But Florida responded with a 10-1 run, taking a commanding 19-10 lead. Clemson could get no closer than seven the rest of the way.

In this third set, it was Clemson that jumped out to an early lead, taking a 6-3 advantage after a well-placed Simmons kill. But Florida answered with six of the next seven to take a 9-7 lead. Clemson would again tie the score at nine, and then again at 11-11 on a Karis Watson kill. But Florida again went on a run, this time with Tournament MVP Kristy Jaeckel as the leader in taking a 17-12 lead. Clemson closed the gap to 18-15 after a timeout, but the Gators closed on a 4-1 run.

After Clemson’s match on Sunday, the Tigers will return to Clemson for a few days, and leave again for the Carolina Challenge in Charleston from Sept. 10-11, which features South Carolina, Winthrop, and College of Charleston.