BERKELEY, Calif. – The Clemson Tigers dropped a three-set match (23-25, 15-25, 13-25) to California to conclude a four-game road stretch and back-to-back match weekend out West. With the loss, Clemson falls to 8-17 (0-14 ACC), while Cal moves to 11-15 (3-11 ACC).
Junior Mia McGrath was the lone Tiger with double-digit kills, finishing with 11. Sophomore Kate Simington followed with five kills and provided three block assists to finish with 6.5 points. Redshirt freshman Katherine Sandt produced 22 assists, nine digs, two kills and two block assists during the three-set match. Senior Devan Taylor rounded out the team leaders with 11 digs, as freshman Addi Rains added seven.
Clemson put together a .297 team hitting percentage in the opening set led by McGrath’s seven kills and .357 hitting percentage. McKenna Gildon and Taylor matched one another stride-for-stride with an ace each and four digs apiece. Azyah Dailey hit her 600th-career kill after notching three in the opening set, while Sandt provided 12 assists, but Clemson dropped set one, 25-23. Dailey became the second Tiger to reach 600 kills during her career this weekend, as McGrath accomplished the feat on Friday night at Stanford.
Set two had McGrath bringing her kill total to nine, while Simington, who started in her first match of the 2024 season, brought her match total to five. Clemson also tallied its first blocks of the match, as Simington assisted on two, and McGrath, Sandt, Kate Hansen and Indigo Young added one block assist each. Gildon and Taylor each clocked their second aces of the match, but Cal took a two-set lead with a 25-15 win.
Clemson looked to take advantage of early Cal errors and kills from Neea-Maria Joki and Lejla Sara Hadziredzepovic off the bench in the third set, but the Golden Bears maintained control. The Tigers’ longest run of the match came midway through the set, as Clemson strung five points together with Sandt at the service line that included an ace from the setter. Unfortunately, the deficit proved too large to surmount, as Clemson fell in set three, 25-13.
Up Next
Clemson returns to Jervey Gym to prepare to face Boston College (Nov. 15) and Syracuse (Nov. 17). The Tigers open weekend action against the Eagles at 7 p.m. on Friday, before hosting Syracuse on Sunday at noon for Senior Day. Admission to all matches in Jervey Gym are free and open to the public.