Despite standout performances from seniors Lia Proctor (22 kills, 10 digs) and Sandra Adeleye (19 kills, six blocks), the Clemson Tigers volleyball team (20-8, 10-6 ACC) lost to the 15-ranked Florida State Seminoles (24-2, 15-1 ACC) Friday night in Jervey Gymnasium. With the 3-1 win (21-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-19), FSU extended its conference-winning streak to a school record 12 games and snapped Clemson’s five game winning streak in the process.
Didem Ege, Kelsey Murphy and Alexa Rand also played excellent in a losing effort for Clemson. Ege led the team with 17 digs, and she now needs just 20 more to set the record for most career digs in ACC history. Murphy is also nearing a career milestone, as with her 50 digs in the match she needs just 17 more to reach the 5,000-mark. The freshman Rand not only led the Tigers in kills (tallying nine), but thanks in part to an errorless performance, she also recorded a team-best .529 hitting percentage on the night.
Everything was clicking for Clemson early on in the match, as they jumped out to an 11-4 lead on the strength of three Adeleye and Rand kills. Florida State responded several times with runs of its own to pull within one point at 18-17 and 19-18 and two points at 23-21, but Clemson never lost its grip. Fueled by kills from Natalie Patzin and an attack error from FSU, the Tigers cruised through the next two points and took the set 25-21. Adeleye and Rand played a big part, each tallying five kills in the set, and the team recorded four blocks as they hit .344.
Clemson jumped out to an 11-4 edge in the first set behind three kills from Adeleye and Rand. Florida State responded with a run to pull within one point at 18-17 and 19-18, but Clemson went on a 4-0 run to take a 23-18 edge. Florida State scored the next three points, but a kill from Natalie Patzin and a Stephanie Neville attack error gave Clemson a 25-21 set win. Adeleye and Rand each had five kills in the set, and the team recorded four blocks as they hit .344.
/Florida State responded in a vengeance in the next set, posting a .324 hitting mark and four service aces against Clemson’s conference-best service defense. The Seminoles trailed 11-10 midway through the set, but they quickly turned that deficit into a 14-11 lead and coasted through the rest of the set, seizing the final three points in a 25-19 win.
The third set played out much like the first, except this time it was Florida State’s turn to jump out to an early lead. Falling to a 9-2 deficit early on, the Tigers battled back with a .286 hitting percentage and eight Proctor kills, but the Seminoles firepower proved to be too much. They posted 19 kills and only three errors for a .364 hitting percentage and took the set, 25-19.
Florida State’s offensive tear continued on into the fourth set as they ran out to a 12-6 lead. Clemson battled back as they had all night with a 3-0 run to pull within three, but the Seminoles poured it on with a 6-1 run, and the eight-point margin proved to be too much for the Tigers to overcome. Proctor led the Tigers back to within three to make the score 20-17, but a kill from Brianna Barry, the league’s leading hitter, turned the tide back in FSU’s favor. The Noles never looked back from there, winning the match-clinching set 25-19.
Back in Clemson, Seniors Lia Proctor and Sandra Adeleye again offered standout performances, helping the Clemson volleyball team to earn their 21st win of the season Saturday night, taking down the Miami Hurricanes 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-23) in Jervey Gym. Proctor and Adeleye each posted 13 kills as the Tigers (21-8, 11-6 ACC) held Miami’s (16-11, 9-8 ACC) league-leading attacker Lane Carico to just nine kills and a .083 hitting percentage en route to their 15th sweep of the season.
Kelsey Murphy reached a career milestone midway through the match: in the second set, she recorded her 5,000th career assist. Her 37 total assists on the night spurred Clemson on to a .271 hitting mark for the match.
Didem Ege continued her good works with 15 digs, leaving her just two digs shy of the ACC career record of 2,238. Fellow Istanbul native Cansu Ozdemir added 13 digs, helping Clemson to a 50-33 advantage over Miami in that department.
Clemson jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the match, with freshmen Natalie Patzin and Sandra Adeleye each posting four kills in a hard-fought 25-20 win. Clemson ran out to an early 12-6 edge, but Miami clawed back time and time again, coming to within two at 12-10 and within one at 18-17 and 20-19. However, a Hoover timeout calmed the Tigers down, and after that they coolly overwhelmed the Hurricanes with a 5-1 run to close the set.
The second set, while close in score, was never really in doubt for Clemson, as they hit .273 while holding Miami to a .125 mark. Adeleye and Patzin again led the Tigers with four kills apiece, and the team recorded three blocks en route to a 25-22 win and a 2-0 lead in the match. Kelsey Murphy added 13 assists in this set alone, moving past the 5,000-assist career milestone.
The third set was very tightly contested, but this time it was Alexa Rand’s time to shine as she broke the freshman block record with her 144th block of the season. The set itself went back and forth and saw several timeouts as the teams scratched and clawed for every point. Miami held an early 9-6 advantage, but Clemson battled back to tie the score at 11. When Miami seized a one-point edge at 20-19, another timely Hoover timeout sparked a 4-1 run by Clemson, giving them a 23-21 lead. Fittingly, Murphy found the senior Proctor for the match-clinching kill and a 25-23 set victory.
The win, Clemson’s sixth in its past seven outings, keeps the Tigers’ NCAA tournament hopes alive, as Miami was ranked 50th in the RPI entering the match. They return to action on Nov. 20 and 21, as they square off against the state of Virginia. The Tigers will play host to the Virginia Tech Hokies at 7 p.m. on Friday, and the Saturday match with the Virginia Cavaliers is tentatively slated for 6 p.m.
