Volleyball Announces 2006 Spring Schedule

March 3, 2006

CLEMSON, SC – Clemson volleyball head coach Jolene Jordan Hoover has announced her team’s 2006 spring schedule. The Tigers will hold one event and will participate in two others during the month of April. Clemson will return 11 letterwinners from last season’s 12-18 squad.

The Tigers will play host to Furman and Winthrop at Jervey Gymnasium on April 8. They will then play at the University of Georgia on April 13 before heading to Columbia, SC for the University of South Carolina’s event on April 15.

Clemson returns 2005 AVCA East Region and ACC Rookie of the Year Jeannette Abbott at one outside hitting position, as well as second-team All-ACC and AVCA East Region Honorable Mention honoree Brittany Ross at the other outside slot. Abbott recorded 515 kills last season, a record for a Tiger freshman, while sophomore Ross broke the Clemson record for kills in a match, tallying 32 twice.

Danielle Hepburn also returns for the Tigers as a middle hitter. Hepburn set the school record for blocks by a freshman with 143 in the 2005 season, destroying 2005 Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame inductee Cindy Stern’s mark of 109 from the 1996 season. Anna Vallinch is also back for Hoover’s team at the libero position. The junior from LaVista, NE tied the Tiger record for defensive saves in a match with 36 against Boston College last season.

Sophomores Sue Eckman, Courtney Lawrence, Leslie Mansfield and Meghan Steiner, along with junior Dawn Robertson, will also return for the Tigers. Steiner competed in 70 games for the Tigers last season at the middle hitter position, while Mansfield played in 96 games on the right side and at the setting position. Lawrence tallied 997 assists as the team’s starting setter and Robertson recorded 235 assists playing behind Lawrence. Along with Abbott and Hepburn, freshman Katie Bridges and red-shirt freshman Laura Boozer will also return for the Clemson squad. Boozer posted 63 total blocks last season in 61 games while Bridges saw action in just one game.