Volleyball Set To Square Off With South Carolina Tuesday

Sept. 27, 1999

CLEMSON, S.C. – The Clemson volleyball team, ranked 13th nationally, will play host to state-rival South Carolina on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in Jervey Gym. The match was originally scheduled for Sept. 15, but was rescheduled due to Hurricane Floyd. The first 500 fans at Tuesday night’s match will receive a free t-shirt as Clemson attempts to break the Jervey Gym attendance record of 1,203, set in 1997 against Florida State.

Admission is free to all Clemson home volleyball matches.

Clemson (11-0, 2-0 ACC) is coming off a 3-0 win over #21 Arkansas on Sunday. Last weekend South Carolina (8-4, 2-0 SEC) defeated Tennessee and Kentucky in its first weekend of conference play.

Although the Gamecocks lead the overall series 27-17, under the current head coaches the series is tied, 3-3, with all six matches ending in 3-0 decisions. The Tigers claimed victories in ’93, ’94 and ’97, while the Gamecocks won in ’95, ’96 and ’98.

When the teams last met in Jervey Gym, Clemson took a 15-11, 15-8, 15-2 victory, outhitting South Carolina .293 to -.013 in the contest. The Tigers had 17 team blocks in the match.

On Friday Clemson will play at Georgia Tech. The Tigers hold a 25-7 series advantage and are 8-5 against the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta.

Clemson defeated Georgia Tech 3-0 at home last season, while the Yellow Jackets won 3-1 in Atlanta. The Tigers won 3-2 when the two teams met in the first round of the 1998 ACC Tournament. Clemson Ranked Among Nation’s Leaders

The Clemson volleyball team is ranked 13th nationally according to the latest AVCA Division I Coaches Preseason Poll, moving up from an 15th-place ranking last week. The team received 680 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 22 in the preseason. In the Big Orange Bash the Tigers defeated 30th-ranked Notre Dame. Last weekend Clemson beat 21st-ranked Arkansas.

Tigers Open ACC Season 2-0 Clemson, the preseason favorite in the ACC, opened the conference season last week with a 3-2 win at Wake Forest and a 3-0 win at Duke.

Freshman Mallory Benson led the Tigers with a .417 hitting percentage (10 kills, no errors, 24 attempts) against the Demon Deacons, and freshman Jessi Betcher tallied 61 assists in the win. Senior Emily Gorla recorded a double-double, with 24 digs and 12 kills. Senior Alison Coday paced the team with 24 kills, while senior Cindy Stern added 18 kills for Clemson.

Stern led the team against Duke, recording 20 kills, six errors and 37 attempts for a .378 hitting percentage. She added seven block assists, also a team best. Coday had 26 digs and 18 kills in the victory.

Betcher paced Clemson with 57 assists and .667 with six kills, no errors and nine attempts, while sophomore Jodi Steffes hit .344 with 13 kills, two errors and 32 attempts. Gorla added 15 digs, and junior Heidi Cooper had 11 digs for the Tigers.

Clemson Defeats #21 Arkansas, 3-0 The Clemson volleyball team, ranked 13th nationally, defeated 21st-ranked Arkansas 3-0 (15-7, 15-4, 15-4) Sunday afternoon at Jervey Gym. The Tigers pushed their winning streak to 12 matches with the win. Clemson outhit Arkansas .338 to .162 over the three games, including a .415 to .149 advantage in game three. As a team, the Tigers had nine service aces, while the Razorbacks recorded one ace in the match.

Senior middle blocker Cindy Stern led the Tigers with a .452 hitting percentage, tallying 18 kills, four errors and 31 attempts. She recorded three block assists for Clemson. Senior outside hitter Alison Coday had 12 kills, two errors and 24 attempts for a .417 attack percentage. Junior middle blocker Jackie Dalleska hit .357 for Clemson, adding six kills, one error and 14 attempts, while freshman Mallory Benson hit .250 with five kills, one error and 16 attempts.

Freshman setter Jessi Betcher led the team with 49 assists and tied senior Emily Gorla with 12 digs to lead the Tigers. Sophomore right side hitter Jodi Steffes recorded four service aces in the win.

Tigers Riding 12-Match Winning Streak Clemson is riding a 12-match winning streak entering this week’s matches. The record for the longest winning streak in Clemson history stands at 15 matches, set in 1992 when the Tigers opened the season 15-0.

Longest Clemson Streaks of Consecutive Matches Won  15  First 15 matches of 1992 season  14  First 14 matches of 1994 season      First 14 matches of 1997 season  13  Sept. 27, 1979 to Oct. 4, 1979      First 13 matches of 1993 season  12  First 12 matches of 1999 season      Sept. 29, 1989 to Oct. 22, 1989

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.

By the Numbers So far this season the Tigers are outhitting their opponents .313 to .117. Clemson has 76 service aces in the seven matches, while Tiger opponents have just 37 aces in the span. Clemson has 36 block solos, compared to 15 from Tiger opponents, and the Tigers have 92.5 total team blocks versus 67.5 total team blocks by opposing teams.

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 Streaks of Consecutive Games Won  39  September 5, 1992 to Sept. 25, 1992  30  First 30 games of 1994 season  27  First 21 games of 1999 season (Active)

Clemson Players Honored by ACC Clemson’s Alison Coday was chosen ACC Co-Player of the Week and Jessi Betcher earned ACC Rookie of the Week honors last week after leading the Tigers to the Clemson Invitational Championship. Betcher was honored as the league’s top rookie for the third consecutive week.

Tigers Preseason ACC Favorites Clemson was selected by the league’s nine head coaches as the preseason favorite for the upcoming 1999 ACC volleyball season. The Tigers collected 77 votes out of a possible 81. The complete poll is as follows:

  1  CLEMSON        6  Wake Forest  2  Virginia       7  Duke  3  Georgia Tech   8  Maryland  4  Florida State  9  NC State  5  N. Carolina

Tigers Seeking Records Several Tigers are among Clemson’s career leaders in many categories. Senior Cindy Stern ranks second in block assists (393), third in kills (1388), fifth in block solos (134) and fifth in attempts (3191).

Senior Alison Coday ranks fourth in kills (1321) and fourth in attempts (3275), while junior Missy Kudelka is in fifth place on the Clemson all-time list with 1545 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 155-60 record at Clemson and is 248-91 for her career.

Hoover has a stellar 69-35 record in ACC matches for a .663 winning percentage, best among active league head coaches.

Hoover is being inducted into the Illinois State Hall of Fame this year. Hoover, the 1997 ACC Coach of the Year, was a three-time All-Gateway Conference performer during her playing days at IIllinois 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.

Fabulous Freshmen Clemson’s two freshmen are making quite an impact in their first month on the team. Setter Jessi Betcher of Boulder, CO, is averaging 14.76 assists per game. She has 16 service aces in 33 games, for a 0.48 average per game. Betcher has been named to the all-tournament team of all three tournaments the team has competed in this season.

Middle hitter Mallory Benson of Angola, IN, is leading the team with a .436 attack percentage (59 kills, eight errors, 117 attempts). Benson has six block solos and 17 block assists for 23 total blocks, second on the Clemson team.

There’s No Place Like Home The Tigers have a 6-0 record in Jervey Gym this season. So far, 4,774 fans have come out to watch the team at home, an average of 796 fans per match.

Clemson recorded a 12-2 record in Jervey Gym last season and ranked 26th nationally in home attendance. Under head coach Jolene Jordan Hoover, the Tigers are 78-19 (.804) in Jervey Gym.

The Tigers will face South Carolina at home on Tuesday. Admission is free to all Clemson home volleyball matches.