Boston College Athletics
Volleyball Falls to Virginia, 3-1, in Home Opener
October 08, 2010 | Volleyball
Oct. 8, 2010
Chestnut Hill, Mass. -
Boston College vs. Virginia Stats 
The Boston College volleyball team was defeated by Virginia, 3-1, on Friday night in Power Gym. Freshman Cagla Sen posted career-highs of 38 assists and three blocks en route to leading the Eagles (8-11, 0-6 ACC) with a .714 hitting percentage in the loss, 25-17, 25-27, 25-21, 25-17.
Senior Melanie Cimino recorded a season-high four blocks to move into 8th place on the Eagles career-leader board. The middle hitter denied her 204th hitter in the second set to equal the mark set by her former teammate Taylor Williams.
The duo of junior outside hitters Brennan Clark and Tsvetelina Dureva recorded their seventh and eighth double-doubles of season. Dureva posted 12 kills and 17 digs, while Clark racked up 11 kills and 19 digs respectively.
The Cavaliers (8-8, 2-4 ACC) were led by double-doubles from redshirt sophomore Beth Wildermuth, 43 assists and 18 digs, and freshman McKenzie Adams, 15 kills and 10 digs.
The match began with the Cavaliers taking first three points, until a kill towards the back line by sophomore Val Mattaliano put the Eagles on the board. Virginia responded with a 6-2 run, prompting Campbell to call timeout at 9-3.
After the break, Dureva and sophomore Krystle Higgins produced three powerful shots to inch the Eagles closer, but Virginia ran away with the win, 25-17.
The Eagles possessed the serve to start the second and capitalized when Mattaliano delivered a pair of side-winding serves that gave Virginia difficulty setting the ball. However, the Cavs responded with a four point run. A service error and kill from Dureva helped the eagles keep pace.
The two sides traded points to 8-8, when Sen found Higgins in the middle to take the lead. Kills from Clark and Dureva, followed by Cimino and Sen on a block pushed the lead to 13-9, forcing Virginia to call timeout.
The Cavaliers reclaimed two points out of the break, but Cimino recorded her fourth block of the match to quell Virginia's momentum. Two kills from Mattaliano and a quartet of errors from Virginia brought the score to 20-15, but a 7-2 run by the Cavaliers tied the match at 22.
After an Eagles timeout, Dureva ricocheted a shot off of a back-row defenders chest to make the score 23-22, but a Virginia drew even again. Sen then found Dureva to give the Eagles set point, but the ball sailed into the net on the serve, leaving the game at 24 all.
Higgins delivered a big kill to give Eagles set point, but a block on the next play narrowly missed the line to even the score once more. With the game on the line Mattaliano and Higgins put away strong shots to give the Eagles the win, 27-25.
The third set began with a pair of kills from Cimino, but Virginia took the next three points. The Cavs pushed the score to 18-10, before Mattaliano put away a pair of attack to temporarily slow the momentum.
At 22-12, senior Rainey Hanley gave Boston College a burst of life from the bench. The outside hitter helped deliver four straight points off of three digs, a kills and a service ace.
After a kill from Sen the score was 23-17. Adams put Virginia in position to win with a kill, but again BC pressed. Virginia committed an attack error, Dureva and Clark recorded kills and Sen combined with Higgins on a block to move the score to 24-21. The Cavaliers denied Dureva on the next play to take the win in the third, 25-21.
Virginia began the fourth set on the six point run. An attacking error from the Cavs and a block from Higgins kept the Eagles in the game, 6-2, but Virginia extended its run to 14-5 and forced BC to take a timeout.
BC took five of the next nine points to bring the score to 18-10. Higgins charged a late surge from the Eagles with a block, an ace and a kill, but the Cavaliers stayed out of reach and won the match in the fourth, 25-17.
Boston College will return to action at 1 p.m. on Sunday, October 10, in Power Gym of Conte Forum against the Virginia Tech Hokies. Admission is free.
Fans unable to attend the match are invited to follow along via GameTracker.
