Volleyball Heads to Florida for Four Matches in Three Days

Aug. 31, 2011

CLEMSON, SC – The Clemson volleyball team (3-0) will travel to Florida for four matches beginning on Friday. The Tigers will compete in the Campus USA Credit Union Invite in Gainesville, FL, playing Jacksonville, Florida Atlantic, and the University of Florida. The team then heads down to Orlando for a Sunday showdown with No. 3 Southern California.

The Gators are ranked ninth nationally and host the tournament, which starts on Friday, Sept. 2 with Clemson’s 10:00 am match with Florida Atlantic. Clemson then returns later in the evening to take on Jacksonville at 5:30 pm. The Tigers and Gators play at 4:00 pm in the O’Connell Center on Saturday.

All three tournament matches will have live stats available through ClemsonTigers.com, and Clemson’s match with Florida is available to stream live at gatorzone.tv.

After the match with Florida, the Tigers will get on a bus to take on No. 3 Southern Cal on Sunday at noon at the Orlando Volleyball Academy. They will be in the state after participating in Florida Gulf Coast’s tournament.

It is the first time Clemson has played two top-ten programs in the span of 24 hours in program history.

Clemson and Southern Cal have never met in volleyball, while Clemson holds a 9-0 all-time advantage over Jacksonville, including the 2010 season-opener. Florida has taken both meetings in history over Clemson, both of which occurred in Gainesville. Clemson has defeated Florida Atlantic the only time the programs have met.

Clemson enters with a 3-0 mark after a nearly flawless Big Orange Bash, in which Clemson swept Loyola, Tennessee St., and South Carolina St. on the way to the title. Junior Sandra Adeleye was named MVP, while Mo Simmons and Alexa Rand were named to the All-Tournament team.

A Few Quick-hitters:

Clemson opened the season with three 3-0 sweeps to win the Big Orange Bash
Preseason All-ACC selection Sandra Adeleye was named MVP, while Alexa Rand and Mo Simmons were on teh all-tourney team
After the opening weekend, Clemson leads the ACC in hitting % (.406), aces per set (2.11) and assists per set (13.11)
Defensively, Clemson is 2nd in the ACC in blocking and tops in hitting percentage allowed
Head Coach Jolene Jordan Hoover is in her 19th season as Clemson’s head coach, and her 381 wins as an ACC head coach rank third in ACC history
Clemson was picked to finish 7th in the ACC by the league’s coaches
Clemson returns all six starters plus the libero from last season’s 18-13 team
Graduate student Cansu Ozdemir is now in her final year of eligibility after receiving a redshirt from her freshman season (2007), in which she did not appear due to injury
Ozdemir is the only senior on the 2011 team as well, as the Tigers feature four juniors, five sophomores, and four freshmen.
Clemson has led the ACC in blocking in each of the previous three seasons
The Tigers have six matches against teams in who are currently ranked in the the AVCA poll, including #3 USC and #9 Florida, #18 Duke and #25 Florida State