Heading into yesterday's match against Duke, it was the Clemson volleyball team's offensive attack that scared most teams. Last night, however, the defense proved to be the key, as the 15th-ranked Tigers took out the Blue Devils 3-0 in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
After Wake Forest pushed the Tigers (11-0, 2-0 in the ACC) to five games earlier in the week in Winston-Salem, Clemson got back on track against the Blue Devils (4-5, 0-1 in the ACC), although the win certainly did not come easily.
"Clemson is just a solid team," Duke coach Jolene Nagel said. "They didn't make errors and they played great defense. I was disappointed to lose, but I was pleased with a lot of things I saw out there that were done consistently that I hadn't seen thus far this year."
Duke got out of the gates quickly in its ACC opener against the undefeated Tigers, jumping out to a 7-3 lead in game one. Clemson, behind middle hitter Cindy Stern, regrouped to win the next nine points of the match and take a 12-7 advantage.
When it appeared the Blue Devils were about to fall, they rallied to pull within 13-12 and put some pressure on Clemson. In the end, Duke's bid for a comeback fell short, as it lost the next two points and the game, 15-12.
As the second game began, it looked as if the Blue Devils were done for the night when Clemson took an early 6-0 lead. Duke fought off the early game slump to get within 6-4 before the Tigers took control once again.
With a 10-7 lead, the Clemson offense took over to win the next four points, earning a game-point at 14-7. At this point, the game seemed well in hand for the visitors from South Carolina. Instead of retreating quietly, however, the Blue Devils stood their ground, foiling a number of game points for the Tigers, before Clemson finally closed the game by a count of 15-11.
"Tonight we played a little bit more consistently as a team than we did last weekend," senior Jami Ediger said. "We hung in there tonight a lot, especially with some of those long rallies that we stuck with. We are definitely improving as a team."
With two games under their belts, the Tigers were poised to breeze through game three for the match victory. Duke, however, had other thoughts on the matter. The Blue Devils opened a 4-0 lead in game three and appeared to have taken the fifth point, but tremendous defense by the Tigers saved the point and turned momentum in their favor.
After winning the next six points to go up 6-4, Clemson had no trouble closing the deal on the final game of the match, winning by a score of 15-9.
"Tonight, I felt like defense was the area we really needed to improve upon," Nagel said. "We just seemed to lose those long rallies, and it was usually because of some miscommunication, so we have to continue to work on making that better."
Stern and fellow senior Allison Coday led the offensive attack for the Tigers, recording 20 and 18 kills, respectively. Clemson notched 67 kills for the match overall, compared to Duke's 49.
While this stat seems to point toward the Tigers' offense, it was actually their defense that made the difference. They consistently kept points alive, barely sliding their hands under some balls that seemed destined to hit the floor.
The theme of the Blue Devils' season thus far has been ensuring improvement from week to week. Nagel thought that this trend continued last night, and the Blue Devils hope to carry the lessons learned against Clemson into their next contest, an ACC matchup against Florida State Friday.
"We definitely played better tonight than we did last weekend, and that's really encouraging," Nagel said. "We missed some digs I felt we should have gotten a hand on, but I was pleased with our steady play, especially passing.
"I think they're really disappointed right now, and upset. But I am pleased with how they worked together and with the enthusiasm they showed out there."
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