Oct. 10, 2008

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CLEMSON, S.C. - Clemson held Wake Forest to just a .075 hitting percentage to roll past Wake 3-0 in Jervey Gym on the campus of Clemson University Friday night. The Tigers cruised to victories of 25-19, 25-10 and 25-22.

The loss was just the second ACC setback for the Deacons as they are now 13-5 overall and 4-2 in the conference. Clemson pulls even with Wake at 4-2 in the conference and is now 12-5 overall.

Clemson hit a solid .295 in the match led by 16 kills from Lia Proctor. Proctor also added ten digs and three total blocks while Danielle Hepburn chipped in with 10 kills and a team-high seven total blocks.

For Wake, freshman Kadija Fornah led the way with nine kills and sophomore Kristen White posted eight kills. Setter Kelsey Jones dished out 29 assists and had six digs and three block assists. Sophomore libero Megan Thornberry had a team-high 11 digs.

Despite the loss, Wake Forest has tied the best start in school history. This is the fourth time a Deacon team has started 13-5 through its first 18 contests.

Graduate student Natalie Mullikin recorded six kills, a pair of digs and just one block assist. She is now four kills away from tying the school record for most total blocks in a career.

Proctor and Hepburn teamed up to score the first four points of the night and Clemson never looked back. Clemson eventually opened up an early 7-1 lead in the opening set before kills from Mullikin, Fornah and sophomore Lauren McIntyre helped pull the Deacons to within one at 9-8.

The Tigers would then take over and score 15 of the next 20 points to take a commanding 24-13 lead. Three straight kills from Fornah and a block from senior Ashley Homitz led the Deacs to a 6-0 run. But a Clemson kill would end the run and the set at 25-19.

In set two, the Tigers used a 9-0 to open up a 13-2 lead. The Deacons would not recover from the run as they had 13 errors compared to just seven kills in the set. Clemson on the other hand had just one error with ten kills and hit .474 in a 25-10 second set victory.

Wake took its first lead of the night in the third set as kills from White, Mullikin and a pair of kills from Fornah gave the Deacs an early 8-6 advantage. The Tigers recovered to tie the set at 9-9 before Clemson went on a 7-0 run to take a commanding 16-9 lead.

Two more kills from Fornah and a block from McIntyre and Homitz brought the Deacs to as close as three at 20-17 but the teams split the next ten points as Wake couldn't continue the run. Clemson took the third set and the match 25-22.

The Deacons will continue the road swing as they head to Georgia Tech Saturday evening. The Yellow Jackets are 11-5 overall and 3-3 in the ACC after falling to Duke in five-sets Friday night. The match is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.