Sports Desk- ACC Volleyball Action

It was a very busy weekend for the ACC, but while most people were paying to the football games in the conference, many women's volleyball games were played as well as all 12 current ACC members were in action.

I had the chance to see two of the games, including UNC's win over Wake Forest on the road (28-30, 29-27, 27-25, 25-22) and Virginia Tech's home win in a highly competitive five-match game over Clemson (25-22, 13-25, 14-25, 25-19, 15-11).

ACC volleyball got my attention late in the season last year when I noticed there was a Turkish player at Florida State. As a Turkish-American, I was aware that volleyball was a popular sport among female athletes in Turkey, but I didn't realize just how many volleyball players from Turkey were playing in the NCAA.

In the ACC, on current rosters, there are eight such players, including Duygu Duzceler and Fatma Yildirim (Florida State), Serenat Yaz and Cansu Ozdemir (Clemson, team image is above), Ece Taner of UNC and Cagla Sen of Boston College.

And, as it turns out Liz Trinchere of Virginia Tech went to my high school in the Roanoke, Va., area.

In weekend action, the UNC Tarheels won a road game over Wake Forest 3-1 (28-30, 29-27, 27-25, 25-22) on Friday as each of the four sets in the match were nail-biters. The 'Heels are now 17-5 (9-2 in ACC play).

And, in Blacksburg, Va., on Sunday, the home-court Virginia Tech Hokies a highly competitive full five-set match over the Clemson Tigers by a score of 3-2 (25-22, 13-25, 14-25, 25-19, 15-11); the Hokies go to 13-9 (6-5 in the ACC) and Clemson now has a record of 14-8 (6-5 in the ACC).

During Friday's game in Winston-Salem, NC, Kaylie Gibson of the 'Heels scored 24 digs and her teammate Emily McGee, a former ACC Player of the Week, had her seventh double-double of the season.

For the home Demon Deacons, Dani Thompson scored 14 digs and Andrea Beck added 14 kills. The game included a breast cancer fund-raiser which raised over $5,600.

During Sunday's game at Virginia Tech, the Hokies won a third straight five-set victory. Three Hokies scored double-doubles, including Cara Baarendse (with 13 kills), Justine Record and Jordan Fish.

For the Tigers, the aforementioned Serenat Yaz was one of three players with double-doubles along with Mo Simmons and Hannah Brenner.

Here is a complete list of ACC scores from Friday to Sunday:

Friday:

Clemson 3 UVA 1
Florida State 3 Maryland 1
Va. Tech 3 Ga. Tech 2
UNC 3 Wake Forest 1
Duke 3 NC St. 0
Miami (Fl) 3 Boston College 1

Saturday:

Ga. Tech 3 UVa 1

Sunday:

Va. Tech 3 Clemson 2
Florida State 3 Boston College 0
Miami (Fl) 3 Maryland 1

Sidebar: On a more serious note, the Turkish-American Washington DC-based group ATAA has set up a relief fund for victims of the earthquake in the eastern city of Van:

Turkish Philantropy Funds
Re: Van Earthquake Relief Fund
216 E. 45th Street, 7th Floor
NY, NY 10017

I expect there will be a segment about the devastation on the NPR talk show "The World," which examines evolving stories from around the globe.