Tigers Stand Alone Atop ACC Standings

Nov. 8, 1999

CLEMSON, S.C. – Clemson (26-1, 13-1 ACC) will play at Georgia on Tuesday. The Bulldogs lead the series 28-7, but the Tigers won last year’s meeting 3-2 in Clemson to open the season.

Clemson will play host to Wake Forest on Friday. The Tigers lead the series 12-1 after defeating the Deacons 3-2 in Winston-Salem earlier this season. The two teams split last year’s matches, with Wake Forest winning 3-1 in Clemson and Clemson winning 3-2 at Wake Forest.

The Tigers will close out the regular season on Saturday when they play host to Duke. Duke holds a 20-12 series advantage, but the Tigers took a 3-0 victory in Durham this season. Clemson won both meetings between the two teams last season.

Clemson Ranked Among Nation’s Leaders The Clemson volleyball team is ranked 13th nationally according to the latest AVCA Division I Coaches Poll, moving up from a 14th-place ranking last week. The team received 759 votes in the national poll.

At the Michigan State Volleyball Classic, the Tigers defeated Texas A&M, ranked 16th in the preseason, and Michigan State, ranked 22nd in the preseason. In the Big Orange Bash the Tigers defeated then 30th-ranked Notre Dame, and on September 26 Clemson beat then 21st-ranked Arkansas. On October 22 the Tigers beat 25th-ranked North Carolina.

Tigers Lead ACC With Duke’s 3-2 victory over North Carolina last weekend, the Tigers stand alone atop the ACC standings. Clemson has a 13-1 conference record, while the Tar Heels are second with an 11-2 mark. The Tigers will wrap up the ACC regular season this weekend, when they play host to Wake Forest and Duke.

Tigers Defeat Seminoles, 3-1 Despite losing game one 15-11, Clemson rebounded for 15-3, 15-8, 15-4 wins in the final three games to take a 3-1 victory over Florida State on Friday night in Tallahassee.

The Tigers took an early 4-0 lead in game one, but Florida State came back to take the victory. The Lady Seminoles turned in a .289 hitting performance with 19 kills in the first game. Clemson came back strong in game two as Florida State hit -.200 and the Tigers held the Seminoles to single digits the remainder of the match.

Seniors Alison Coday and Cindy Stern combined for 28 of Clemson’s 47 kills while Coday led all players with a .394 hitting performance.

Tigers Defeat Rattlerettes, 3-0 Senior Cindy Stern had four block assists Saturday to break the Clemson career record and lead the Tigers to a 3-0 win over Florida A&M in Tallahassee, FL. She currently has 434 career block assists, one more than the old record of 433 set by Stephanie Schulz last season. Stern also led the team in hitting with 18 kills, no errors and 25 attempts for a .720 attack percentage.

Sophomore Jodi Steffes hit .625 (10 kills, no errors, 16 attempts), and senior Alison Coday hit .571 (nine kills, one error, 14 attempts) in the match.

Junior Missy Kudelka led the team with 26 assists, and senior Skye Frost paced the team with seven digs. Senior Emily Gorla had one block solo and three block assists for the Tigers.

Stern Breaks Clemson Career Block Assist Record With four block assists at Florida A&M, Clemson senior middle hitter broke the Tiger career block assist record. She currently has 434 block assists, one more than the record of 433 set by Stephanie Schulz last year.

Coday Ties Tiger Record In Clemson’s 3-2 win over North Carolina on October 22, senior outside hitter Alison Coday tied a Tiger match record with 32 kills. Robin Kibben had 32 kills against Auburn in 1993, and Julie Rodriguez recorded 32 kills versus Florida State in 1996. Coday had a 30-30 performance versus the Tar Heels, finishing the match with 30 digs.

Tigers Among Nation’s Statistical Leaders According to NCAA statistics, Clemson freshman setter Jessi Betcher led the nation through the matches of Oct. 24, with 14.45 assists per game. As a team, Clemson was tied for third with 15.88 assists per game, 12th with 17.20 kills per game and 15th with a .280 hitting percentage.

Three Tournament Trophies Clemson has won all three tournaments the team has competed in this season. The Tigers defeated then #16 Texas A&M, preseason #22 Michigan State, Cleveland State and Eastern Kentucky at the Michigan State Volleyball Classic to open the season.

Clemson won the Big Orange Bash by defeating Kentucky and #30 Notre Dame, then beat Illinois State and Furman to win the Clemson Invitational.

Tigers Set Record With 16-Match Winning Streak Clemson’s 3-0 victory over Florida State on October 8 set a Tiger volleyball record, giving the team 16-straight wins. The previous record of 15 consecutive matches won was set in 1992 when the Tigers opened the season 15-0.

Longest Clemson Volleyball Streaks of Consecutive Matches Won

16  First 16 matches of 1999 season15  First 15 matches of 1992 season14  First 14 matches of 1994 season    First 14 matches of 1997 season

By the Numbers So far this season the Tigers are outhitting their opponents .284 to .146. Clemson has 149 service aces in the 27 matches, while Tiger opponents have just 84 aces in the span. Clemson has 73 block solos, compared to 50 from Tiger opponents, and the Tigers have 219 total team blocks versus 179 total team blocks by opposing teams.

Tigers Open Season With 27-Game Winning Streak Clemson won its first nine matches in three games this season. The 27-game winning streak is the third-longest in Tiger volleyball history.

Longest Clemson Volleyball Streaks of Consecutive Games Won

39  September 5, 1992 to September 25, 199230  First 10 matches of 1994 season27  First 9 matches of 1999 season

Tigers Seeking Records Several Tigers are among Clemson’s career leaders in many categories. Senior Cindy Stern holds the Clemson record with 434 block assists. She ranks third in kills (1631), tied for fourth in block solos (149) and fourth in attempts (3708).

Senior Alison Coday ranks fourth in kills (1557) and third in attempts (3860), while junior Missy Kudelka is in fifth place on the Clemson all-time list with 1663 assists. Freshman setter Jessi Betcher ranks ninth with 1092 assists.

Hoover Holds Clemson Coaching Record Head Coach Jolene Jordan Hoover, now in her seventh season as the Tigers’ head coach, became Clemson’s all-time winningest volleyball coach last season. She holds a 169-61 record at Clemson and is 262-92 for her career.

Hoover has a stellar 80-36 record in ACC matches for a .690 winning percentage, best among active league head coaches.

Hoover was inducted into the Illinois State Hall of Fame this fall. Hoover, the 1997 ACC Coach of the Year, was a three-time All-Gateway Conference performer during her playing days at Illinois State and the league’s player of the year in 1985. The Redbirds won Gateway titles and made NCAA appearances in all four of her seasons.

Over her final three seasons, ISU was 101-30 and was ranked as high as No. 9 nationally. Hoover still ranks among Illinois State’s all-time statistical leaders in nine different categories, including block assists, block solos, total blocks, service aces and assists.

Fabulous Freshmen Clemson’s two freshmen are making quite an impact in their rookie season. Setter Jessi Betcher of Boulder, CO, is averaging 14.18 assists per game. She has 30 service aces in 77 games, for a 0.39 average per game, and is hitting .253 with 61 kills. Betcher has been named to the all-tournament team of all three tournaments the team has competed in this season.

Middle hitter Mallory Benson of Angola, IN, is second on the team with a .328 attack percentage (110 kills, 31 errors, 241 attempts). Benson has 11 block solos and 46 block assists for 57 total blocks, second on the Clemson team.

There’s No Place Like Home The Tigers have a 12-1 record in Jervey Gym this season. So far, 11,062 fans have come out to watch the team at home, an average of 851 fans per match. The Tigers ranked 26th nationally in home attendance. Earlier this season versus South Carolina, Clemson’s fans set a new Jervey Gym attendance record of 1,367.

Clemson recorded a 12-2 record in Jervey Gym last season and ranked 26th nationally in home attendance. Under head coach Jolene Jordan Hoover, the Tigers are 81-20 (.802) in Jervey Gym.

The Tigers will close out the regular season at home this weekend. Admission is free to all Clemson home volleyball matches.