
Sally Goetz
Clemson volleyball fell to 0-4 in the ACC after losses to Pitt and SMU this weekend.
Clemson volleyball’s unfortunate ACC play continues as the Tigers were swept in three sets for the third consecutive match, falling to Pitt on Friday and SMU on Sunday.
After a strong start to the season at 12-0, Clemson, 12-4, 0-4 ACC, remains winless in conference play.
On its first ACC road trip of the season, Clemson faced a tough challenge against the No. 5 Pitt Panthers, 11-2, 3-0 ACC, who dominated the Tigers in straight sets on Friday night: 25-17, 25-10, 25-21.
Pitt controlled the opening set from the start, building a commanding 15-8 lead by the media timeout, despite kills from Mia McGrath, Mia Moore and Katherine Sandt.
The Panthers maintained that momentum going into the second set with an early 7-1 lead. Although kills from Sandt and Kennedy Wagner and an ace from Claire Luoma sparked a brief rally, Pitt closed out the second set.
Clemson got off to a promising start in the third set, but Pitt quickly took force, taking a 7-3 lead.
The Tigers fought back, grabbing five of the next 8 points and narrowing the lead to two, thanks to aces from McGrath and McKenna Gildon. Despite scoring four of the final 7 points, Clemson ultimately fell short in the tightly contested set.
Looking to rebound, the Tigers traveled to Dallas on Sunday to take on No. 11 SMU, 10-5, 2-3 ACC, but the Mustangs delivered another dominant performance, sweeping Clemson in three sets: 25-16, 25-18 and 25-15.
The opening set was competitive early on, with kills from McGrath and aces from Gildon and Sandt, helping Clemson stay close. Addi Rains’ ace gave Clemson its first lead of the set, but the Tigers were quickly silenced by SMU’s 10-point run to close out the first.
The second set remained tight as well, featuring key plays from Khaya Gordon, McGrath, Moore, Sandt and Hansen. However, SMU pulled away late to take a 2-0 lead.
Though Clemson kept pace with SMU for the first 20 points of the third set, SMU secured 12 of the final 19 points to seal the sweep and hand the Tigers their fourth straight loss.
Clemson now returns home, still looking for its first ACC win. The Tigers will host a two-game homestand starting Friday against No. 25 North Carolina, followed by Duke on Sunday.