Sept. 16, 2011
CLEMSON, S.C. – The Clemson Volleyball team (9-3, 1-0 ACC) hit .348 and had 11 blocks en route to a 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-20) win over Georgia Tech (7-4, 0-1) Friday night in the ACC opener.
“”I’m very disappointed in our lack of effort, focus and execution tonight,” said head coach Tonya Johnson. “We were not prepared to compete and it showed. We will get back to work and bounce back from this disappointing loss.”
Junior Monique Mead led the Yellow Jackets with 11 kills and six digs but Tech hit just .070 on the night and had 31 unforced errors. Senior Asia Stawicka added seven kills on .333 hitting and sophomore Ivona Kolak had a career-high four kills. Sophomore Kaleigh Colson had 23 assists, eight digs and four kills and junior Nicki Meyer led the team with 10 digs.
The first set was all Clemson as the Tigers quickly raced out to a 7-3 lead and forced an early Georgia Tech timeout. The Jackets cut the deficit to two points but a 7-1 run Tigers run opened it up at 18-10. After another timeout, Clemson continued the run and led 24-12 before five straight Tech points accounted for the 25-17 final score as the Jackets looked for some momentum heading into the second set. Georgia Tech hit just -.030 in the opening set and was led by three kills from Stawicka. Clemson hit .385 and used four blocks to get the early edge.
Clemson kept the hot start going in the second set as it scored five of the first six points and forced another early Tech timeout. The Yellow Jackets stayed within two points for a while but the Tigers began pulling away late in the set and went on to win 25-18 and take a 2-0 lead for the match, The Yellow Jackets hit .185 in the set and were led by six kills from Mead. Clemson hit .357 and had four more blocks to take control of the match.
The Tigers completed the sweep with a 25-20 win in the third set. It was close for the first half of the set but Clemson began to slowly pull away and forced a Tech timeout when it was 14-10. The Tigers led 22-16 before two straight Tech points forced a Clemson timeout. The Tigers came back to finish the match 25-20.
ACC play kicks into full gear next weekend as the Yellow Jackets make the first of two trips to North Carolina this season. Tech will play at Duke on Friday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. and then face Wake Forest the next afternoon at 5 p.m. Live stats for both matches will be available at RamblinWreck.com.
