Boston College
The BIG EAST Championship- Notre Dame
Volleyball Falls In Semifinal Of Big East Championship
November 20, 2004 | Volleyball
Nov. 20, 2004
Pittsburgh, Pa. - The Boston College volleyball team played in its first Big East Championship in 11 years this afternoon at the Fitzgerald Field House in Pittsburgh, Pa. The Eagles dropped a heartbreaker in the semifinal game 3-1 to Notre Dame.
BC set the tone for game one when Verena Rost landed a service ace on the opening point. Trailing 4-3, Dorota Niemczewska put down one of her five kills in the firstgame. The sophomore extended the Eagles lead to 6-4 with a service ace. Leading 12-8, Katie Andersen converted a kill on a pass from Rost. Andersen registered seven of her 14 kills in the first game.
The defense dominated in the first for the Eagles. With a 22-16 edge, Shardai Davis and Niemczewska stuffed the Notre Dame attack. Davis had two block assists in the game. Andersen finished off the Fighting Irish with a kill to give BC a 30-25 victory.
In game two, the Eagles jumped out to a 3-1 lead when Andersen recorded the only service ace of the game. Tied at 5-5, Notre Dame broke away from BC. The Fighting Irish won the next four points and would not look back from there. Notre Dame took game two 30-15.
BC recovered at the start of the third game. Notre Dame won the opening two points, but the Eagles responded quickly. Andersen slammed down a kill and the Fighting Irish committed an attacking error to even the score at two. Andersen took over from the backcourt with a service ace and Niemczewska completed one of her 14 kills in the match to put the Eagles up 4-2. The sophomore led the team with 14 kills and added seven digs.
Tied at 4-4, BC won three consecutive points with two kills from Niemczewska and a block from Abigail Hasebroock and Lia Krautmanis gave the Eagles the 7-4 advantage. Kristin Kenney and Allison Anderson helped BC from the backcourt with service aces to put the Eagles up 12-7.
Notre Dame fought back by winning the next three points. The Eagles responded to the Fighting Irish's run with three unanswered kills of their own from Davis, Rost, and Andersen.
Later in the game tied at 21, Notre Dame committed a kill to give the Fighting Irish a 22-21 edge. Notre Dame never lost control of its lead as it took game three 30-26.
BC came out strong in game four. Trailing 4-1, the Eagles battled back with three straight kills. Davis completed two of her nine kills to even the score at four. Niemczewska controlled with her serve to put BC up 6-4.
Tied at seven, Notre Dame went on a four point run to take an 11-7 lead. The Eagles would cut the lead to five at 21-16, but their efforts were too short as the Fighting Irish prevailed 30-20.
Defensively, the Eagles continued to play rock solid like they had all regular season. The team committed eight total blocks, while Davis completed three assists. Libero, Allison Anderson registered 22 digs and Andersen recorded 16 on the day.
BC (20-12) finishes with a very impressive season. The Eagles attained the 20-win mark for the first time in program history and also ended with their first winning record in the Big East.
