Clemson outside hitter Kaylin Korte went under the knife on Thursday to repair a knee injury suffered in the team’s exhibition match to start the season. Korte is expected to miss the entire season after being named a 2018 All-ACC Preseason selection (read more here).
When the injury was first announced, it left a hole at outside hitter for the rebuilding Tigers. The addition of transfer Brooke Bailey from Ohio State helped, but their only two returning players (besides Korte) with more than 2 kills last season were opposite Alyssa Deloney and setter Caroline Pearson.
That left the team with freshmen Solei Thomas and Ashtynne Alberts as their options to fill that hole at the outside, and thus far, have gone with a hitter-by-committee approach. Alberts has been the choice to start in all 7 matches, recording 66 kills in 25 sets played and hitting .126 so far. Thomas, however, has started the last 3 games for the Tigers, and has 65 kills in just 20 sets played (3.25/set), and his hitting .331, while spending time in a middle hitter role in relief of regular starters Adria Oliver and Ava Pritchard.
In fact, all 4 hitters listed above (Deloney, Thomass, Bailey, and Alberts) have between 65 and 69 kills each. Setter Gabby Easton has gotten in on the scoring too, with 22 kills and 17 blocks, which ties her for 2nd on the team.
So far, without Korte on the court, the team has cobbled together a 4-3 record, with wins over in-state rivals South Carolina (in a sweep 3-0), Appalachian State, Davidson, and Kennesaw State; and losses coming to Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Mississippi State, and UAB. That’s the same record through 7 games that they had last season in Michaela Franklin’s debut year as head coach. The Tigers are back on the court this weekend in a hosted tournament where they’ll face Troy, North Dakota, and Villanova in the Jervey Gym.
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