CLEMSON, S.C. – Senior pin attacker Azyah Dailey finished with 15 kills and a career-high five solo blocks to push the Clemson Volleyball team (10-17, 2-14 ACC) to a three-set sweep (25-14, 25-14, 25-23) over Syracuse (14-14, 2-14 ACC) on Sunday afternoon. Dailey’s five solo blocks ties for 10th-most by a Tiger in a single-match, and her 15 kills is her 11th double-digit kill performance of the season while being her seventh match on the year hitting above .250.
Senior middle hitter Indigo Young and freshman Neea-Maria Joki followed up Dailey’s offensive effort with seven kills a piece with each of them also hitting above .250. Senior libero Devan Taylor clocked 14 digs to tie for the team-high with junior Mia McGrath. Joining Dailey on the defensive front line was Joki, who notched three block assists, while Kate Hansen tallied two block assists. Katherine Sandt clocked 27 assists and one solo block, while Maggie Patterson led the Tigers’ five-ace effort with two.
Clemson’s offense came out firing in the opening set, hitting .529 at the media timeout with nine kills and no errors. Azyah Dailey led the charge at the media timeout with a .714 hitting percentage with five kills on seven attacks. The Tigers would finish the opening set with a .419 hitting percentage, the highest percentage in a set since the App State match on Sept. 12 where Clemson hit .469 in the third. Clemson also claimed a perfect sideout percentage going 15-for-15. Dailey finished set one with six kills, while Indigo Young and Neea-Maria Joki followed with four and three, respectively, to clinch the opening set 25-14.
The momentum continued for the Tigers in set two, as Clemson hit .357 as a team with five additional kills coming from Dailey, three from Joki and two from Young and Mia McGrath. Clemson also racked up four aces that included two in the last three points from Maggie Patterson, one each from Kate Hansen and McGrath. With the addition of three blocks, including a solo block from Dailey, and assisted blocks from Young, Hansen and Joki, the Tigers secured the second set, 25-14.
Defense was the key for both sides in the third set. With the set tied at 15-all, Clemson had 19 digs, while Syracuse had 20, in comparison to both teams combining for no more than 26 in either of the first two sets. Both programs also had three blocks, with Clemson’s coming at the hands of Dailey, who had two solo blocks, and one assisted on by Hansen and Joki. The Tigers finished the…