DURHAM, N.C. – Clemson’s middle hitter, Indigo Young and Kate Hansen, combined for 15.5 points, but the Tigers (8-15, 0-12 ACC) dropped a four-set match (19-25, 21-25, 25-22, 11-25) at Duke (9-14, 5-7 ACC) on Sunday afternoon.
Young powered the Tigers with seven kills and two block assists, while Hansen finished with four kills, three blocks, all assisted, and a .273 hitting percentage. Hansen also led the team at the service line with two aces, and sophomore McKenna Gildon, Devan Taylor and Addi Rains added one each. Azyah Dailey provided a team-high 14.5 points off 13 kills and two blocks, while Kennedy Wagner finished with seven points. Audrey Armbruster led Clemson with 21 assists, while Claire Luoma and Taylor added 10 and eight digs, respectively.
Clemson went on a run in the opening set behind two aces from Gildon and Hansen, as well as a joint block from Hansen and Mia McGrath. Neea-Maria Joki and Dailey kept pace for the Tigers offensively, but Duke was able to string together a six-point run that proved to be too much for Clemson to surmount allowing the Blue Devils to take set one, 25-19.
The Tigers scored numerous points off Duke errors to begin set two, but the Blue Devils maintained the advantage. Joki, Dailey and Young kept pushing for the Tigers, and Wagner helped chip away with two kills in a three-point span. Dailey kept Clemson alive with a solo block and block assist with Hansen, while Hansen added her second ace of the match, but the Blue Devils took a two-set lead with a 25-21 set two score.
Clemson hung with the Blue Devils in the third after Taylor and Rains added their aces and the middle hitters supplied kills alongside Dailey. Wagner, Hansen and Joki were able to extend Clemson’s lead in the third to five points behind an offensive rhythm that kept Duke off balance. The Tigers extended the lead to as much as seven, before Dailey clinched set three, 25-22, with a kill to force a fourth set.
Dailey looked to keep the Tigers rolling after notching the first two kills in the fourth, but Duke maintained control of the set. Wagner, Dailey and Mia Moore provided kills for the Tigers, and Young combined with Armbruster for a block, but Duke took the fourth set, 25-11, and the match.
Up Next
Clemson continues its road stretch by heading out west to take on two of the newest ACC members, Stanford and California. Action begins on Friday, November 8 at 10 p.m. ET at Stanford, before concluding on Saturday, November 9 at 10 p.m. at Cal.