Nov. 30, 2009

FOOTBALL

• Clemson makes its first appearance in the ACC Championship Game and the winner of the game – either Georgia Tech or Clemson – will capture their first ACC Championship Game.

• Georgia Tech placed six total players on the All-ACC First Team which included five on offense.

• Clemson’s C. J. Spiller became just the 5th player in NCAA history to top 7,000 career all-purpose yards last Saturday against South Carolina and now has 7,115 career all-purpose yards.

• Clemson’s C.J. Spiller has returned seven kickoffs for touchdowns during his career, an ACC and NCAA record. Spiller, who also holds the ACC career record for combined returns for touchdowns with eight, set the NCAA mark for kickoff returns for scores with an 88-yard kickoff return scamper against South Carolina.

• ACC teams have scored 30 or more points in 63 games this year, the most in the 57-year history of the league. The previous high was 48 30-point performances in 1999 and 2002.

• Duke’s Thaddeus Lewis become only the 2nd ACC player and the 60th in NCAA history to throw for 10,000 or more yards in his career against Wake Forest in his final college game. Lewis finished his career with 10,065.

• Virginia Tech redshirt freshman Ryan Williams has rushed for 1,538 yards this year. The Manassas, Va., native has shattered the ACC’s freshman rushing record of 1,265 yards set last year by his teammate Darren Evens, who is sitting out 2009 with a knee injury suffered in pre-season practice. It is also the 4th-best single-season rushing total in ACC history.

• Clemson RB C.J. Spiller set yet another ACC record on Nov. 21, breaking the 10-year old single season mark for all-purpose yardage. Spiller, who now has 2,207 yards this year, bettered the previous standard of 2,054 set in 1999 by Virginia’s Thomas Jones.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

• The 11th annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge tips off Monday night. The ACC has won each of the 10 Challenges played to date and ACC teams have won 62 of the 97 games played in the Challenge.

• ACC teams are 60-12 in early-season non-conference play and four ACC teams – No. 6 Duke, No. 10 North Carolina, No. 18 Clemson and No. 21 Florida State are ranked in this week’s AP poll while four ACC teams – No. 5 Duke, No. 11 North Carolina, No. 19 Clemson and No. 23 Georgia Tech are listed in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ poll.

• Clemson’s Trevor Booker leads all active ACC players in career rebounds (853), blocked shots (212) and double-doubles (24) while Maryland’s Greivis Vasquez leads all active ACC players with 20 games of 20 or more points.

• Georgia Tech freshman Derrick Favors leads the ACC in field goal percentage (.722) and all ACC freshmen in points per game (13.6) and rebounding (7.8) while his teammate Gani Lawal leads all ACC players with four double-doubles this season and is the top rebounder in the league, averaging 11.4 per game.

• Duke’s Jon Scheyer has scored 10 or more points in an ACC-best 16 straight games and Miami’s Dwayne Collins is eight points shy of 1,000 for his career.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

• ACC women’s basketball action continues on Wednesday, Dec. 2, in the third-annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The 2009 Challenge, which will take on a two-day format this year, opens with Wake Forest hosting Illinois, Boston College traveling to Iowa, and Georgia Tech taking on Penn State. Last season, the ACC boasted an 11-6 record over Big Ten teams, including a 7-4 mark in the 2008 Challenge.

• Duke junior guard Jasmine Thomas registered Duke’s third triple-double in school history and the 13th in ACC history with 11 points, a career-high 12 assists and a career-high 11 rebounds as the 10th-ranked Blue Devils downed Marquette, 74-43, to conclude the Caribbean Challenge in Cancun, Mexico. Only Monique Currie and current UM head coach Katie Meier have accomplished the feat for Duke.

• Three ACC student-athletes earned Tournament MVP honors last week. Miami’s Shenise Johnson was named the Wyndham Miami Thanksgiving Tournament MVP for the second-consecutive year as she led the Canes with back-to-back double-doubles against Houston and Long Beach State en route to a 7-0 overall record, the school’s best start since 2003.

• In the SMU Tournament, Carolyn Swords notched two double-doubles, scored 44 points and grabbed 30 rebounds for Boston College on her way to being named the Tournament MVP. In addition, Virginia’s Paulisha Kellum earned MVP recognition after scoring a career-high 25 points against South Dakota State in the championship game of the Reef Division of the Junkanoo Jam in Freeport, Bahamas.

MEN’S SOCCER

• The ACC owns 50 percent of the 2009 NCAA Men’s Soccer Elite Eight field as North Carolina (No. 5 seed), Wake Forest (No. 3 seed), Maryland (at-large) and Virginia (No. 2 seed) each advanced on Sunday. Wake Forest knocked off conference opponent Duke, 4-2, in the Round of 16, while Boston College also dropped its NCAA postseason contest to Drake, 6-4.

• The ACC is currently 13-3-0 in the 2009 NCAA Tournament and is the only conference with more than one team represented in the final eight. In addition, this year will mark the ninth consecutive year at least one team from the ACC will be represented in the College Cup.

• Six of the league’s nine men’s soccer programs are ranked in the RPI’s top 30, which tops all other conferences in the country.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

• The Atlantic Coast Conference will again be represented in the NCAA Women’s Soccer College Cup when defending national champion North Carolina (21-3-1) faces Notre Dame (21-3-1) in next Friday’s NCAA semifinal match at College Station, Texas. This will mark the 27th year (of a possible 28) that at least one ACC team has reached the Final Four and the fifth straight year the conference has been represented.

• The nationally third-ranked Tar Heels will be seeking their 21st national title (including one AIAW championship in 1981). North Carolina, which has reached at least the third round of every NCAA Tournament since its inception in 1982, will be appearing in the national semifinals for the 25th time in 28 years.

• The semifinal match against Notre Dame will be a rematch of the 2008 Women’s College Cup Finals, which saw the Tar Heels claim a 2-1 win over the Fighting Irish on a pair of second-half goals by Casey Nogueira. The teams also met earlier this season at South Bend, Ind., where North Carolina won by a 6-0 score.

• After being limited to six goals the entire regular season, Nogueira – the 2008 National Player of the Year – has exploded for six more goals in the postseason alone. That includes the game-winning goal vs. Florida State in the ACC Championship final, the game-winner vs. Maryland in the NCAA third round, and the fourth hat trick of her career in the Tar Heels’ 5-2 quarterfinal win over Wake Forest last Friday.

VOLLEYBALL

• A league-record five volleyball teams earned berths to the 2009 NCAA Volleyball Championship, including four at-large berths. Florida State (28-2, 19-1 ACC) earned the league’s automatic qualifying bid by winning the regular-season championship. Duke (27-5, 17-3 ACC), Georgia Tech (21-9, 15-5 ACC), Clemson, (23-9, 13-7 ACC), and Miami (18-12, 11-9 ACC) each earned bids via the NCAA Selection Committee.

• Florida State sophomore outside hitter Rachael Morgan posted a career-high 17 kills in a 3-1 win over Miami (Nov. 25). In the same match, Miami sophomore outside hitter Lane Carico had her career-best 19th double-double with 20 kills and 12 digs. It was the ninth time this season Carico posted at least 20 kills, a league high.

• Rachel Moss became Duke’s first first-team CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American last week, and celebrated with a 21-kill, 13-dig double-double—her 13th in 2009—in a 3-1 victory against Wake Forest in her final match at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Moss’ 21 kills upped her career total to 1,674 and moved her into fourth place in school history. She also ranks fourth all-time at Duke in digs and service aces.

WRESTLING

• Three ranked members of Virginia Tech’s wrestling team picked up a pair of wins as they defeated Newberry by a 27-9 score and Campbell by a 45-6 count in a tri-meet hosted by the 24th-ranked Hokies last Friday. Double winners for Tech included 11th-ranked Chris Diaz at 141 pounds, 17th-ranked Pete Yates at 149, and No. 16 Jesse Dong at 157. Both Diaz and Dong won by pins in the match vs. Campbell.

• No. 3-ranked 197-pound er Hudson Taylor of Maryland recorded the 68th pinfall of his career – one short of tying Jake Stork’s school record of 69 – vs. Central Michigan’s Eric Simaz in Northeast Dual action at Troy, N.Y. on Saturday. Hudson went 3-0 at the Duals to remain unbeaten on the season.

• North Carolina’s Thomas Scotton also swept three matches in 157-pound weight class at the Northeast Duals, running his record for the season to 11-0. Virginia’s Derek Valenti (141 pounds), Chris Henrich (174) and Brent Jones (197) were also among the three-match winners.

• NC State got two victories each from senior 125-pounder Taylor Cummings, junior 133-pounder Darrius Little and freshman 141-pounder Dale Shull as it defeated Oklahoma City 36-8 and dropped a 26-15 decision to 14th-ranked Oklahoma on the road Saturday.

SWIMMING & DIVING

• Florida State was the only league team active last week. The No. 20 men’s team (collegeswimming.com) lost to fourth-ranked Florida, 169-131, but senior Terry Horner won both the one-meter and three-meter dives. His 405.23 mark in the one-meter not only won the event, but is the top mark in the ACC this season, while his 398.33 points in the three-meter topped the field of eight.

• The No. 25 Florida State women’s team dropped a 212-88 decision to the fifth-ranked Gators, but were led, despite the loss, by freshman Marissa Harrington. Harrington swam the 1,000-yard freestyle in 9:50.77. Her time is the fastest in the league this season and stands 6.02 seconds faster than the second-best time.