Tigers Await ACC Home Opener

CLEMSON, S.C. – This weekend, Clemson (5-9, 0-2 ACC) will welcome NC State (8-6, 1-1 ACC) and No. 10 North Carolina (10-2, 2-0 ACC) to Jervey Gym for its first two home ACC contests of the season. The Tigers are looking to bounce back from tough losses to Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh over the weekend.

The Wolfpack and the Tarheels both present interesting challenges for Clemson following their opening weekend of ACC competition. NC State is coming off a victory against Syracuse, following a five-set loss to North Carolina in which it led the Tarheels, 2-1 heading into the fourth set. The five-set thriller was not North Carolina’s only scare of the weekend as the preseason favorite to win the ACC barely escaped Boston College in five-sets. Neither opponent, NC State or Boston College, won more than five ACC matches last season.

Clemson enters the weekend with three student-athletes ranked among the best in the ACC and remains one of the top serving teams in the conference. Seniors, Leah Perri and Sydney Moseley lead Clemson’s serving efforts, acing opponents 17 times each. Kailey Harvell is next in line with 12 aces on the season while Auburn transfer, Ally Gamble has 10 to her credit in her first season as a Clemson Tiger.

Perri continues to be a force offensively as the senior tallied a match-high 11 kills against Virginia Tech before her match-high 10 kills at Pittsburgh last weekend. She ranks second in the conference with 219 kills on the season and her 3.91 kills per set ranks third in the ACC as well. Keely Hayes’ 520 assists thus far rank third in the conference while her 9.29 assists per set average is currently seventh. Freshman, walk-on Jaden Light has added her name into the conversation as one of the top blockers in the conference as her 1.07 blocks per set is currently the 10^th best average in the ACC. Sophomore middle blocker, Megan McGinley isn’t far behind, averaging 1.01 blocks per set. Her 56 blocks in 2016 is tied for the third most in the conference.