Volleyball Opens Season this Weekend at Xavier Invitational

• This is the 37th volleyball season for @ClemsonVB; The All-time record sits at 771-498
• Mo Simmons was the only ACC player to average more than three kills and three digs per set last season; She’s on the preseason All-ACC team in 2013
• Clemson plays #7 Michigan, Northern Kentucky, and Xavier at the Cintas Center
• Livestats available for all matches, while live video will air for Clemson v. Xavier

CLEMSON, SC – The Clemson volleyball team (@ClemsonVB) will open the 2013 season at the Xavier Invitational in Cincinnati, OH this weekend. Clemson will play 2012 National Semifinalist and 7th-ranked Michigan at noon on Friday, Northern Kentucky at 5:00 pm on Friday, and Xavier at 4:00 pm on Saturday. All matches will take place in the Cintas Center.  Clemson’s match with Xavier will be available to watch on GoXavier.com, while all three matches will have live scoring available. Fans can also follow @ClemsonVB on twitter for periodic match and trip updates. Michigan is the highest-ranked team Clemson has played since 2011, when the Tigers played No. 3 Southern California on a neutral court, a 3-0 loss at the hands of the Trojans. The two teams have met just once in history, a 3-0 Michigan win in 2002.  Northern Kentucky has defeated Clemson both times the programs have met, although the most recent meeting was in 1980. Clemson and Xavier have met just once, a 3-0 Clemson win last season in the Big Orange Bash in Clemson, SC.  Clemson will open up their home season next weekend with the Big Orange Bash, starting with South Carolina on Friday night.  Some quick notes on the weekend: 

• This is the 37th volleyball season at Clemson; The All-time record sits at 771-498
• The #Tigers were picked to finish 8th by the league’s head coaches
• Mo Simmons (@Mo_Money22) is @ClemsonVB’s leading returning attacker at 3.17 kills per set. She was 7th in #ACCVB last year
• Mo was the only ACC player to average more than three kills and three digs per set last season; She’s on the preseason All-ACC team in 2013
• Hannah Brenner (@hbrenner15) ranks 6th in Clemson history with 2,798 career set assists, and 4th with a 9.26 per set average
• Clemson has NINE newcomers on the roster this season, including seven freshmen
• The Tigers graduated more than 3700 kills, 2800 digs, and 1300 blocks in the 2012 senior class, as well as 9 Academic All-ACC honors
• Clemson boasts a diverse roster that includes players from four countries and six states; SC (4) and Ohio (3) are most common 
• Irem Bayramoglu is the fourth in a successful line of Turkish Tigers. Clemson has had at least one player from there since ‘05
• Kristin Faust has been approved to play after recovering from a torn ACL during spring workouts. She is one of team’s top passers