Volleyball Enters ACC Tournament As No. 1 Seed

Nov. 15, 1999

Tigers Win ACC Regular Season Championship With wins over Duke and Wake Forest last weekend, the Clemson volleyball team clinched the program’s first ACC regular season title. The Tigers posted a 15-1 conference record during the regular season.

ACC Tournament Matchups Clemson (29-1, 15-1 ACC) enters this week’s ACC Tournament as the number one seed. Clemson’s only ACC Tournament title came in 1997, when the Tigers defeated previously unbeaten Maryland, ranked 15th nationally, 3-1 in the semifinals and defeated Georgia Tech 3-1 in the finals.

The Tigers hold a 5-5 record in ACC Tournament play under head coach Jolene Jordan Hoover.

Clemson will face Florida State (8-22, 1-15 ACC) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. to open the tournament. The Seminoles hold a 13-9 series advantage, but the Tigers won both meetings between the two teams this season. Clemson won 3-0 in Jervey Gym and 3-1 in Tallahassee.

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 Defeat Bulldogs, 3-1

Clemson defeated Georgia 3-1(15-8, 15-4, 12-15, 15-6) in Athens last Tuesday, giving the Tigers a victory over the Bulldogs on their home court for only the third time in the history of the Clemson volleyball program. Clemson’s only two other wins in Athens came in 1979 and 1980.

Senior Cindy Stern hit .340 for the evening, with 24 kills and 15 digs. She led the team with three block solos.

The Tigers recorded 15 team blocks, led by freshman Mallory Benson, who tallied seven block assists and one block solo. Steffes had four block assists, while Coday had two block solos and three block assists.

Tigers Defeat Demon Deacons, 3-0 Clemson defeated Wake Forest 3-0 (15-7, 15-12, 15-13) Friday night at Jervey Gym. The Tigers had a balanced attack, with four players hitting over .300 in the win.

Senior Alison Coday hit .324 with 14 kills, three errors and 34 attempts. Freshman Mallory Benson hit .455, with six kills, one error and 11 attempts. Sophomore Jodi Steffes had nine kills, two errors and 21 attempts for a .333 attack percentage and led the team with 15 digs. She also recorded three service aces in the match.

Freshman setter Jessi Betcher hit .400, with three kills, one error and five attempts, plus she paced the team with 38 assists. Senior Cindy Stern had nine kills and four blocks in the match.

Tigers Defeat Blue Devils, 3-0 Clemson defeated Duke 3-0 (15-5, 15-10, 15-3) Saturday night at Jervey Gym to clinch the regular season ACC Championship. The Tigers’ five seniors were honored in their final home match of the regular season.

Senior Alison Coday led the team with 16 kills, five errors and 35 attempts for a .314 attack percentage, while fellow senior Cindy Stern had 14 kills, three errors and 28 attempts for a .393 hitting percentage. Stern tallied four block solos and four block assists for the evening. Sophomore Jodi Steffes added eight kills for the Tigers.

Freshman setter Jessi Betcher had 32 assists , two service aces and seven digs in the match. Senior Emily Gorla paced the team with eight digs, while senior Skye Frost added seven digs for the Tigers. Senior Mary Trull had four assists in game three.

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 442 block assists, nine 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 ranked sixth in the nation through the matches of Nov. 7, with 14.18 assists per game. Senior Cindy Stern ranked 18th nationally with a .376 hitting percentage. As a team, Clemson was ninth with 15.57 assists per game, 15th with a .284 hitting percentage and 16th with 17.00 kills per game.

By the Numbers So far this season the Tigers are outhitting their opponents .278 to .144. Clemson has 160 service aces in the 30 matches, while Tiger opponents have just 95 aces in the span. Clemson has 87 block solos, compared to 56 from Tiger opponents, and the Tigers have 260 total team blocks versus 200 total team blocks by opposing teams.

The Winningest Team of the Nineties The Clemson volleyball team’s .967 winning percentage entering the ACC Tournament is the best of any Tiger team this decade.

Top Winning Percentages of the 1990’s

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

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

Tigers Seeking Records Several Tigers are among Clemson’s career leaders in many categories. Senior Cindy Stern holds the Clemson record with 442 block assists. She ranks third in kills (1678), fourth in block solos (157) and fourth in attempts (3813).

Senior Alison Coday ranks fourth in kills (1602) and second in attempts (3972), while junior Missy Kudelka is in fifth place on the Clemson all-time list with 1664 assists. Freshman setter Jessi Betcher ranks eighth with 1218 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 172-61 record at Clemson and is 265-92 for her career.

Hoover has a stellar 82-36 record in ACC matches for a .695 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.

There’s No Place Like Home The Tigers have a 14-1 record in Jervey Gym this season. So far, 12,703 fans have come out to watch the team at home, an average of 847 fans per match. The Tigers rank 27th nationally in home attendance. Earlier this season versus South Carolina, Clemson’s fans set a new Jervey Gym attendance record of 1,367.

Under head coach Jolene Jordan Hoover, the Tigers are 86-20 (.811) in Jervey Gym.