Volleyball Hosts N.C. State and Florida State

September 21, 1998

This Week’s Matchups Clemson (7-3) will play host to N.C. State on Friday at 7 p.m. and #19 Florida State on Saturday at 6 p.m. After defeating N.C. State 3-1 in Clemson last season, the Tigers are 7-4 versus the Wolfpack at home. N.C. State defeated Clemson 3-2 in Raleigh last year. The Tigers dropped two matches to the Seminoles last season. Florida State won 3-1 at home and on the road versus Clemson. The Tigers hold a 4-3 advantage over the Seminoles in Jervey Gym.

Tigers Win Big Orange Bash Clemson lost a 3-0 match at South Carolina on Wednesday before defeating SMU 3-0 (15-9, 15-7, 15-3) to open the Kentucky Conference Challenge in Lexington on Friday. The Tigers defeated Arkansas State 3-1 (17-15, 11-15, 15-7, 16-14) Saturday morning before the Wildcats defeated the Tigers 3-1 (6-15, 15-13, 15-13, 15-9) in the final match of the tournament.

Clemson placed two players on the All-Tournament team. Junior Cindy Stern led Clemson with a .379 hitting percentage (51 kills, 12 errors, 103 total attacks). Stern tallied three service aces, 17 digs and 17 blocks in the three matches.

Junior Alison Coday hit .287 for the weekend, with 47 kills, 14 errors and 115 total attempts. She had 32 digs and nine blocks in the tournament.

ACC Notes Entering last week’s matches, the Clemson volleyball team led the ACC in two statistical categories, hitting percentage and blocks per game…Clemson senior middle hitter Stephanie Schulz led the conference with a .495 hitting percentage, and junior Cindy Stern led the ACC with 1.59 blocks per game…Skye Frost was tied for second with 0.57 service aces per game…The Tigers captured the ACC Championship last season, winning the ACC Tournament in Raleigh, NC. The title was Clemson’s first in the 21-year history of the Tiger volleyball program. Clemson’s victory also marked the first time in ACC history that the fourth-seeded team won the crown.

Hoover Seeking Coaching Record Head coach Jolene Jordan Hoover needs just 10 victories to tie former head coach Linda White’s record of 138 wins at the helm of the Tiger program. Hoover has a 128-52 record over her five seasons at Clemson and is 221-83 in her seven years as a head coach. Hoover’s .725 winning percentage entering the season placed her 17th nationally among Division I head coaches. She ranks third among ACC coaches with 50 league wins. Only one other active ACC coach, Maryland’s Janice Kruger, ranks ahead with 75 wins.

Tigers Ranked 31st Nationally The Clemson volleyball team ranked 31st nationally in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches’ Poll released last week, moving up from a 33rd-place ranking two weeks ago.

Tiger on U.S. National Team Clemson junior middle hitter Cindy Stern competed on the United States National B Team this past summer in various competitions held in Colorado Springs. The daily schedule for the five weeks Stern trained included five hours of practice each weekday, two hours in the morning and three hours each afternoon. During the last week of training, the U.S. Team hosted Canada’s national team for nightly competition.

Current Tigers Among Career Leaders With nine block assists last weekend, senior Stephanie Schulz moved into third place on the Tigers’ career list with 324 block assists. Schulz is 43 block assists away from Wendy Anderson’s record of 367 block assists. She has 885 career kills, ranking tenth on Clemson’s all-time list. Junior Cindy Stern ranks sixth on the career block assists list with 275 block assists. Stern is tied for sixth on the career block solos list with 94 block solos.

Home, Sweet Home Clemson was 13-2 in Jervey Gym last season. During the 15 home matches, a total of 10,502 fans gathered to watch the Tigers, giving Clemson the 28th-best home attendance figure among all NCAA schools. Three of Clemson’s 1997 home matches were attended by standing-room only crowds of over 1,000 fans. In the Tigers’ three home matches this season, 2,315 fans have come out to watch Clemson, an average of 772 fans per contest.