Clemson sports news roundup: Soccer falls in title game, volleyball takes two, more

Here is your Clemson sports news roundup for November 18, 2024.

Clemson men's soccer falters in ACC Tournament title game

Sunday, the Clemson men's soccer team came up just short of capturing the ACC Tournament championship by falling to Wake Forest in a 1-1 game decided by penalty kicks. Now, the Tigers await news of their NCAA Tournament draw.

Clemson jumped on the board first when Lukas Magnason scored in the 20th minute on a rebound off of a corner kick. Unfortunately, Clemson would surrender the equalizing goal in the 39th minute.

The second half saw no goals scored. That sent the game to extra time and then eventually penalty kicks where Wake prevailed 7-6.

Joran Gerbet, Adam Lundegard, and Alex Meinhard were each named to the ACC All-Tournament Team. The Tigers now await their NCAA Tournament fate, with the selection show being held on Monday, November 18 at 1:00 p.m., streamed live on NCAA.com.

Clemson volleyball picks up back-to-back home wins

Over the weekend, the Clemson volleyball team picked up two much-needed home wins. That ended a 14-match ACC losing streak for the Tigers.

Friday night, Clemson took down Boston College in five sets. After winning the first set, the home team fell behind two sets to one only to rally to win the last two sets to claim their first conference win of the season.

Senior Azyah Dailey led the way with 22 kills while junior Mia McGrath had 14. Dailey finished the match with 24 points after adding two solo blocks, and McGrath added two aces to bring her point total to 16. Meanwhile, Neea-Maria Joki led the team in blocks with six total (two solo, four assisted) and added eight kills for 12 points.

Sunday, as the program celebrated Senior Day, the Tigers had a much easier time as they swept Syracuse 3-0. Dailey finished with 15 kills and a career-high five solo blocks. Meanwhile, senior Indigo Young and freshman Neea-Maria Joki contributed to the winning cause with seven kills a piece with each of them also hitting above .250 for the match.

The Tigers now face three straight road games (at Miami, Florida State, and Boston College) before closing out the regular season with a home game against North Carolina. Hopefully, they can carry the momentum they gained this weekend with them.

Clemson football moves up in both polls

Following Saturday's narrow victory over Pitt to close out ACC play, the Clemson football team moved up slightly in both the A.P. and Coaches top 25 polls.

This week, the Tigers sit at No. 17 in the A.P. Poll. That's up three spots from the previous week.

Meanwhile, in the Coaches Poll, the Tigers sit at No. 16. A week ago, they were at No. 17 in that poll.

Of course, the only rankings that truly matter are the College Football Playoff rankings which will be revealed on Tuesday night. It will be interesting to see if the Selection Committee moves the Tigers up after a last-minute win over an unranked by respected Pitt squad.