STATESBORO, Ga. – The Clemson Volleyball program (3-1) opened the GATA Challenge on Friday afternoon with a 3-1 victory (25-16, 21-25, 25-15, 25-20) against Maryland Eastern Shore (2-3). The Tigers had 16 players appear on the court in the win with 11 Tigers scoring at least one point.
Offensively, reigning Western Michigan Tournament MVP Mia McGrath led the Tigers with 17 points behind 15 kills, one ace and one solo block. She was joined by sophomore Kennedy Wagner at 14.5 points (14 kills, one block assist) and freshman Neea-Maria Joki at 9.5 points (five kills, three aces, two blocks). Clemson continued to push the tempo at the service line this match by finishing with nine aces as a team spread over six players. This is the second match in 2024 that Clemson has tallied nine aces after opening the season with nine against Loyola Chicago.
Clemson was off and running in the opening set against UMES after stringing together three different runs of four points and an additional run of three points to claim the set win, 25-16. Three Tigers were able to capitalize at the service line with an ace, including senior libero Devan Taylor notching back-to-back aces, while McGrath had an ace and a set-leading seven kills.
The Tigers changed up the lineup in the second set allowing Wagner and junior Mia Moore to combine for crucial points for the Tigers. Wagner hit .778 in the second set clocking seven kills with no errors, and Moore added 4.5 points following four kills and one block assist. Senior middle hitter Indigo Young added to Clemson’s ace count with her first of the season, but the Tigers dropped set two, 25-21.
Similar to the opening set, Clemson strung together multiple scoring runs behind the powers of Joki, Wagner and McGrath. As a team, the Tigers hit .346 in the third set with both Wagner and McGrath surpassing 10 kills in the match. Joki added two aces, to bring her match total to three, as Clemson took a 2-1 advantage following the 25-15.
Clemson clinched a 3-1 match victory in set four behind a 16 kill and two ace performance. The Tigers had two runs of four points spurred by a solo block from Young, an ace from McKenna Gildon and kills from McGrath and Joki to help secure the 25-20 win.
Up Next
Clemson concludes weekend action tomorrow against Georgia Southern. Action is slated to begin at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN+.