Nov. 18, 2004

2004 ACC Volleyball Championship Central

Charlottesville, Va. - Clemson (19-13, 7-9 ACC) defeated Virginia Tech (13-16, 7-9 ACC) by scores of 30-19, 36-34, 28-30, 28-30, 15-8 in the first round of the 2004 ACC Volleyball Championship Thursday afternoon at Memorial Gymnasium on the grounds of the University of Virginia.

Clemson, led by Leslie Finn and Lori Ashton, took the first game 30-19. Finn and Ashton each recorded seven kills and hit a combined .481 in the game.

The Tigers claimed the second game 36-34, behind the play of Brittany Ross, who hit .429 with eight kills. Virginia Tech was led by Katie Esbrook, who recorded seven kills and no errors on eight swings, hitting .875.

The Hokies came back to take games three and four by identical 30-28 scores. Esbrook continued her strong play, hitting .692 through four games with 20 kills.

Clemson took the fifth and final game 15-8. With the win, Clemson advances to the quarterfinals and will face top-seeded Georgia Tech on Friday, November 19 at 11:00 a.m.

The Tigers were paced by Finn (28), Ashton (24) and Ross (20), who each recorded 20 or more kills in the match. Tech's Esbrook hit a team-best .621 in the match with 21 kills.