Volleyball Drops Four-Set Decision to Miami

CLEMSON, SC – The Clemson volleyball team fell to Miami, 3-1, (25-20, 19-25, 24-26, 20-25) on Friday night in Jervey Gym. Clemson (7-7, 1-2 ACC) fell to 11-8 against Miami (10-3, 3-0 ACC) all-time, and will take on No. 18 Florida State on Saturday at 6:00 pm. The Seminoles (9-5, 2-1 ACC) are coming off a 3-1 loss to Georgia Tech on Friday night.  Mo Simmons led Clemson with her seventh double-double of the season, overcoming a slow start to put down 17 kills, 15 digs, and three blocks. Kristin Faust (12 kills, 9 digs) and Leah Perri (11 kills, .308 hitting) also finished in double-figures for the Tigers.  Beta Dumancic, who entered the match third in the ACC at 1.35 blocks per set, had four on the night to go along with nine kills in 16 attacks. Hannah Brenner (41 assists, 10 digs) added her 37th career double-double, while Niki Collier tied her career-high with 16 digs for the second straight match.  Miami had a balanced attack, hitting .250, and all five hitters had nine or more kills, led by 15 from Savannah Leaf. Middle Emani Sims followed up her 16 kill – 16 block effort in Jervey a season ago with 10 kills and nine digs on Friday.  Clemson struggled offensively with the tough Miami block, with 14 of their 25 miscues being sent back. Miami’s 14.5 blocks were the most Clemson has hit into this season.  Clemson came out with great energy in the first set, jumping out to an early lead and never trailing. The Tiger defense was assertive, holding the Hurricanes to .083 from the floor. Perri had five kills in only nine attacks, and Faust found the floor four times in the set as Clemson took the early advantage.  In the second set, Miami’s offense began to click, as the Hurricanes put together a line of 19 kills against just two errors en route to knotting the match at a set apiece.  The third set was back-and-forth, with 11 ties and four lead changes. The Tigers had a tough time converting offensively, as Miami’s aggressive serve kept Clemson out of system. As a result, Clemson hit just .114 in the set. However, the Tigers shrugged off a 23-19 deficit to tie the set at 23-23 on an attack error by Leaf. With the score tied at 24-24, Alexis Mourning put down a kill, and Faust sent an errant attack to close the set.  In the fourth set, the Tigers went to Simmons, who had six kills in 20 attacks. Perri, Faust, and Dumancic each added three kills, but Miami tagged the Tigers for five more blocks en route to the 25-20 win and the clinch.