By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — At least in football, Clemson is regarded as one of those national powers, a “Power 4” team that always seem to be in the conversation for winning a national championship. At least some of that panache carries over to the Tigers’ other sports teams where all the NCAA Division I schools are considered more equal. So, when a volleyball team carrying the Clemson brand comes to town, it raises the level of excitement.
BONUS PHOTOS AT BOTTOM (Click on any image for Slide Show Mode)
That certainly was the case on Sept. 12, for the estimated 600 fans on hand for App State’s first match of the weekend Black & Gold Invitational tournament hosted at the Holmes Convocation Center. In what can only be described as one of the most exciting athletic contests of the year in any sport, App State battled toe-to-toe with Clemson, the 3-0 loss to the Tigers a bit deceiving.
“Any time you are in two sets where the difference is two points, it could have gone either way,” said said a smiling Sarah Rumely Noble, disappointed in the loss but understanding what her squad had accomplished. “We could have capitalized on a couple of more moments in those sets but I am really proud of our offensive performance because we killed a lot of balls. We showed that we can kill balls against anybody. That has been a big focus for us as we have gone through the (early) season. I am excited at how we can progress through the season.”
We can kill balls against anybody.
Speaking to some of the statistical differences, Rumely Noble pointed out, “We had an identical number of service errors, nine. Clemson capitalized on a few more service aces (8-2). You know, it is hard when you are playing a strong team like that, you have to apply service pressure. We’re going to be OK with missing a couple but from a crowd standpoint (it is frustrating to see them).”
One of the more crowd-pleasing aspects of App State’s emerging style of play was the high number of quick-set kill shots and, ultimately, that speaks to the athleticism and skill of a setter and the frontline players’ skill and chemistry, being in sync.
“Our middles have been playing extremely well, so we are getting the ball to them really quickly. They have been really hard to defend. Maya (Winterhoff), our middle, had 11 kills tonight which is just incredible. That has carried us a ton. That (the quick-set kills) extends and opens up the rest of our offense,” said Rumely Noble, now in her second year at the help of App State’s volleyball program.
The Nitty Gritty
In the first set, App State clawed back from an early, 9-4 deficit to eventually tie the score at 11-11 on a Maya Winterhoff kill. The 7-2 run was jumpstarted by a service ace off the arm of setter Juliana Horta. The 5-10 freshman from Clayton, N.C. played a key role (service ace or assist) in six of the nine points of the run.
By earning the 11-11 draw and overcoming the deficit, it was “game on” for the two adversaries, exchanging the lead and forcing ties until the Tigers opened what seemed to be an insurmountable 22-19 lead.
And yet, the Mountaineers rallied on the strength of kills from Elise Marchal, Maddie Smith, and Winterhoff, closing the gap to 24-23 before Clemson’s Neea-Maria Joki fashioned her own kill shot got secure the set.
The second set was more of the same, although it initially looked like things would go App State’s way as the tournament hosts opened up an early, 5-2 lead on a pair of kills by Smith and one each by Winterhoff and Marchal, with Horta setting from the middle.
Clemson was not intimidated, closing the gap quickly with key kills by pin attacker Mia McGrath, a junior from Deerfield, Ill., who leads the Tigers on offense, now with 71 kills on the young season.
Once the visitors from South Carolina evened things up at 5-5, the match became a see-saw battle: exchanging leads, with multiple ties. App State’s biggest lead was at 15-13. Clemson’s biggest was only a single point advantage until finally beginning to gain some separation at 22-19 — a 3-pont gap that was quickly closed with a service ace by Kenady Roper, a block by Winterhoff and Marchal.
When Horta set up kills by Smith to take a late lead at 23-22 and again at 24-23, the Holmes Center excitement grew but Clemson’s six on the court rose to the occasion, finishing things off with a kill by McGrath off a set by freshman Katherine Sandt of Western Springs, Ill., and a final service ace off the arm of Devan Taylor, the Tigers’ senior libero from Spring, Texas to carve out a final set score of 27-25.
In the third set, Clemson gained separation early, to 19-10, before settling for a 25-15 final set score win.
Now 3-4, the Mountaineers will finish out the Black & Gold Invitational with a 6 p.m. match on Sept. 13 against Winthrop, then a final 4 p.m. encounter with Wofford on Saturday, Sept. 14.
Clemson meets Wofford at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 13 at the Holmes Center, then returns to the arena on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tilt vs. Winthrop.
BONUS PHOTOS
All photographic images by David Rogers for High Country Sports
