Tiger Volleyball Falls In Five Game Thriller

Oct. 11, 2002

CLEMSON, SC – The Clemson volleyball team dropped a five-game thriller to 21st-ranked Georgia Tech on Friday night at Jervey Gym. The Tigers rallied from a two game deficit to take the match to its limit. Clemson’s record is 13-8 overall and 4-2 in the ACC, while Georgia Tech improves to 19-3 and 5-1 in league play.

Georgia Tech claimed the first game 30-27, then won the second game 30-24. The Tigers mounted a gutsy comeback, winning game three 35-33, then dominated game four to take a 30-19 victory. In the decisive game, Georgia Tech defeated the Tigers 15-12 to gain the league win.

Clemson head coach Jolene Jordan Hoover said, “It was a great competitive match. Georgia Tech has a really nice team. It was frustrating that we didn’t play well to start out and found ourselves down two games. We showed a lot of heart to come back and take the match to five games.”

In game one, the Tigers were outhit .342 to .227, but Clemson tallied four blocks to the Yellow Jackets’ one team block. Clemson’s Lori Ashton tallied seven kills with a .455 hitting percentage, and Marija Zoric accounted for three of the Tigers’ blocks (one solo). Georgia Tech’s Lauren Sauer posted a .600 hitting percentage with six kills, while Kele Eveland handed out 14 assists.

Georgia Tech controlled game two, holding Clemson to a .119 hitting percentage with 13 kills while recording 20 kills with a .245 hitting percentage. Three Tigers tallied four kills each (Finn, Beasley and Ashton) while Zoric added another two blocks. The Yellow Jackets’ Alexandra Preiss had seven kills, and Eveland tallied 12 assists.

In a third game nailbiter, Clemson fought back to push the match into a fourth game with the 35-33 win. The Tigers hit .300 with two team blocks, and Georgia Tech hit .259 with four team blocks. Clemson’s Lori Ashton tallied eight kills and Leslie Finn added six more kills. Jessi Betcher handed out 24 assists, and Stephanie Haskell and Ryane Beasley posted six defensive saves each.

Game four was the Tigers’ turn to dominate, as Clemson jumped out to an early lead with four straight blocks and a service ace. The Tigers never looked back, winning the fourth game with a .289 hitting percentage and holding the Yellow Jackets to a -.058 hitting percentage. Clemson also recorded seven team blocks to Georgia Tech’s none. Lori Ashton added four kills. Marija Zoric had five blocks, and Jessi Betcher dished out 10 assists with seven digs. Georgia Tech’s Blair Moon had four kills, and Kele Eveland tallied 10 assists with six digs.

The Yellow Jackets outhit the Tigers .273 to .077 in the fifth game behind a balanced offense and stingy net play. Georgia Tech recorded four team blocks, while holding Clemson to no blocks. The Tigers’ were paced by Ryane Beasley three kills and three digs. Georgia Tech’s Jayme Gergen and Lauren Sauer had two kills each, while four other Jackets tallied a kill apiece. Sauer and Eveland also recorded two blocks each.

For the match, Clemson hit .217 as a team compared to Georgia Tech’s .200 hitting percentage. The Tigers tallied 16 team blocks to the Jackets’ 13 blocks, and Clemson served up four aces to Georgia Tech’s one service ace. Georgia Tech recorded 83 kills to Clemson’s 79 kills, and the Tigers posted 85 defensive saves to the Yellow Jackets’ 91 digs.

Lori Ashton led Clemson with a career-high 25 kills and a .360 hitting percentage with two service aces and three blocks. Marija Zoric had 12 kills with a career-high 12 blocks (one solo), and Jessi Betcher handed out a season-high 67 assists with 20 digs. Stephanie Haskell recorded 22 digs, and Kristin Swanson recorded four blocks.

Georgia Tech was led by Jayme Gergen with 16 kills, five block assists and a .412 hitting percentage. Lauren Sauer added 15 kills with five blocks (one solo), and Kele Eveland had seven kills, 63 assists, 16 digs and six blocks (two solo). Blair Moon, Alexandra Preiss and Laura Kuhn each tallied 14 kills, and Moon and Marisa Aston posted 19 digs each.

The Tigers return to action on Tuesday, Oct. 15 as Clemson travels to Wake Forest to take on the Demon Deacons in a 6:00 PM match.