Volleyball ACCtion: Friday, November 20
Florida State clinches ACC title.
Clemson's Didem Ege recorded 18 digs to become the ACC's career leader in digs.

Clemson's Didem Ege recorded 18 digs to become the ACC's career leader in digs.

Nov. 20, 2009

FSU Clinches Tournament Bid
The Florida State volleyball program's six-year postseason drought is officially going to come to an end as the No. 15 Seminoles swept Boston College (25-18, 25-18, 25-11) Friday night at Tully Gym and thus clinched the Atlantic Coast Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

With an impeccable 26-2 overall record and 17-1 conference mark, FSU earned the right to represent itself as the best team in the ACC when tournament play starts in early December.

Now, the Seminoles will host Maryland on Sunday with the chance to officially claim the regular-season ACC Championship outright with a win.

Blue Devils Silence Wolfpack 3-0
Libero Claire Smalzer picked up 23 digs in just three sets to lead Duke to a 3-0 (25-11, 25-16, 25-13) win over NC State Friday evening in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Smalzer, a 5-10 junior, collected 16 of those digs in the second set and helped to hold the Wolfpack (7-26, 0-18 ACC) to a .066 hitting percentage for the match. Smalzer has played a significant role in a Duke defense that has held opponents to an ACC-low .158 hitting percentage and helped the Blue Devils reach 25 wins for the fourth consecutive season.

Duke (25-5, 15-3) was just as good on the offensive end, posting a .381 hitting percentage with 42 kills compared to just five errors. Senior Rachael Moss and junior Becci Burling each reached double figures with 12 kill and 10 kills, respectively, while sophomore Sophia Dunworth added eight with no attack errors. Setter Kellie Catanach also dished out 31 assists in the win.

Georgia Tech Rolls Past Virginia, 3-0
Senior Chrissy DeMichelis, sophomore Bailey Hunter and freshman Monique Mead each had nine kills to lead the Georgia Tech Volleyball team (19-9, 13-5 ACC) to a 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-15) win over Virginia (12-17, 7-11) Friday night at O'Keefe Gym.

Mead led the way hitting .692 for the match and also added six total blocks to go along with her nine kills. DeMichelis added four digs in addition to her nine kills. Senior Brittany Roderick hit .438 en route to eight kills for the Yellow Jackets. Junior Mary Ashley Tippins had a match-high 31 assists and junior Jordan McCullers added 22 digs. Tech hit .275 for the night and had nine blocks.

In the first set, the Jackets raced out to a quick 6-1 lead and never looked back en route to the win. UVA never got any closer than four points and the Yellow Jackets went on to win 25-18. Roderick led the way in the opening stanza with four kills and Tech had four blocks as UVA hit just .152 compared to the Jackets' .310.

Williamson Leads Miami Past Maryland, 3-0
Christine Williamson collected a match-high 17 kills and the University of Miami Hurricanes took down the University of Maryland, 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-20), in ACC volleyball action Friday evening at the James L. Knight Sports Complex in Coral Gables, Fla.

Miami (17-11, 10-8 ACC) hit .225 for the match as a team, and collected 43 kills on offense. The Hurricanes used Williamson's match-high 14 kills in order to sweep the season series from the Terrapins of Maryland (13-18, 5-13 ACC) for the second consecutive season.

After taking the opening set (25-17), the `Canes hit a .300 clip (12-3-30) in the second set, using a 7-2 run sparked by senior outside hitter Maria Andersson and sophomore Williamson, to claim a 14-10 lead midway through. UM trailed early-on, 8-7, following a kill from Maryland's Lisa Scott.

Wake Forest Wins a Five-Set Thriller Over North Carolina
In front of perhaps the largest crowd ever in Reynolds Gym, the Wake Forest volleyball team took a 2-1 lead and held on for a thrilling five-set victory over visiting North Carolina Friday night.

The match could be summed-up by the fifth set as the Demon Deacons (10-19, 8-10 ACC) raced out to a 9-4 lead only to see North Carolina (15-14, 11-7 ACC) battle-back and take a 12-9 lead of its own. Wake then rallied behind a crowd of a little over 1,200 to finish the set on a 7-2 run and take the match 16-14.

The Tar Heels won the opening set of the night 25-22 but the Deacs responded to win both sets and two (25-18) and three (25-19) to take a 2-1 lead. A 7-1 run midway through the fourth set allowed UNC to seize the momentum and send the match into a fifth set with a 25-23 victory.

Ege Sets ACC Career Record as Tigers Take Down Hokies, 3-1
Clemson Volleyball avenged a five-set loss from earlier in the season by defeating the Hokies (18-11, 8-10 ACC), 3-1 (25-16, 20-25, 25-18, 27-25) on Friday night in front of 1,344 fans at Jervey Gymnasium. Lia Proctor and Sandra Adeleye, the last two ACC Players of the Week, each had 15 kills to lead the Tigers. Clemson has now won seven out of the past eight matches.

Senior Istanbul, Turkey native Didem Ege entered the match needing six digs to break the ACC career digs mark of 2,238 set by North Carolina's Brittany Eskola only a season ago. After recording only four in the first three sets, she saved 14 attacks in the fourth set to set the career mark, and ended the match with 2,251 career digs.

The Tigers used overpowering offense for much of the night, hitting .292 or higher in each of the four sets. For the match, Kelsey Murphy had 49 assists (12.25 assists/set) and led the Tigers to a .338 hitting night. Murphy was able to spread the ball around, as four Tigers finished with nine or more kills. Cansu Ozdemir recorded her first career double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs, and also added three service aces.