Clemson Defeats Virginia in Four

Nov 2, 2025, 4:42 PM

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The Tigers (14-10, 2-10 ACC) dropped the opening set against the Virginia Cavaliers (10-12, 3-9 ACC), but the Tigers powered back to secure sets two, three and four to finish the weekend with a 3-1 (22-25, 25-20, 25-19, 28-28) victory on the road in Charlottesville. Junior transfer Khaya Gordon led Clemson with 16 kills, while Mia McGrath and Mia Moore added 13 and 12, respectively.
The Cavaliers went on an early run to create a five-point gap, but the Tigers trimmed it down to two after kills from Khaya Gordon, Mia Moore and Mia McGrath. Virginia was able to reclaim the spread to hold a five-point advantage heading into the media timeout, The Tigers were able to pull within one after an ace by Claire Luoma and a kill by Nil Okur, but despite cutting into the lead, Virginia didn’t relinquish it to take the opening set, 25-22.
Clemson looked to answer in the second with three quick points at the hands of kills from McGrath and Gordon and a solo block by Kate Hansen. Blocks proved to be the name of the game in the second as Okur tacked on two block assists alongside Moore and Gordon to take a five-point lead and force Virginia to call timeout. The Tigers maintained the lead with kills from McGrath and Okur before McGrath sealed the set, 25-20.
The Tigers carried that momentum into the third set to string together three-point and four-point runs that included the second ace of the day from Luoma to take the lead. McKenna Gildon added an ace of her own, and Clemson extended the advantage to five with kills from Moore, Gordon and Hansen. Gordon became the first Tiger to reach double-digit kills and clocked back-to-back ones to bring Clemson to set point. She notched her 12th kill of the day to secure set three, 25-19, for an advantage heading to the fourth.
Virginia led off the fourth set with the lead that required Clemson to call timeout before the designated media break trailing by four. The Tigers kept pace and eventually tied the set up at 22-all after a five-point stretch included a kill by Gordon, an ace by Sandt and a block assist from Moore and Okur. After trading points, the Tigers strung together three-straight that included two kills from McGrath to take the set, 28-26, and the match.
Tiger Leaders/Highlights:
Points: Khaya Gordon - 17
Kills: Gordon - 16
Digs: McKenna Gildon - 14
Assists: Katherine Sandt - 42
Blocks: Nil Okur - 6
Aces: Claire Luoma - 2
Gordon recorded career highs in both points and kills
McGrath reached 900 career kills finishing with 13 on the day
Kate Hansen reached 400 career kills with nine during the match
Hansen finished with a .474 hitting percentage (9-for-19 with no errors)
Sandt notched her 12th double-double with 42 assists and 12 digs
All nine Tigers that made an appearance finished with at least one dig
The team finished with 56 kills compared to Virginia’s 47
Up Next
The Tigers continue their road stretch next weekend with matches at Syracuse (Nov. 7) and at Boston College (Nov. 9). Both matches will be available to stream on ACCNX.

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Clemson Defeats Virginia in Four

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