Boston College Athletics
Volleyball Takes Down Holy Cross, Brown in Three Sets
September 18, 2010 | Volleyball
Sept. 18, 2010
Chestnut Hill, Mass. -
The Boston College volleyball team ended its non-conference schedule with straight-set victories over Holy Cross and Brown on Saturday at the Pizzitolo Sports Center in Providence, R.I. Junior outside hitter Tsvetelina Dureva led BC (8-5) averaging 5.00 kills per set on .284 attack percentage, adding 20 digs, four aces and three blocks on the weekend.
“Now that pre-conference play is over, we can say that we have made dramatic improvement from where we started,” head coach Chris Campbell stated. “Like any program going through a transformation, we still have areas we will continue to address. At this point I think the players have realized what their expectations should be and are starting to raise the expectations of their own performances. That is a good sign and something we need to continually do. It was a good preseason. We finished 8-5. Now the real season begins and the competition becomes more difficult.”
In the first match of the day, Boston College was pitted against Holy Cross (5-10) for the third time this season. In the second set, senior setter Dani Moskitis became the ninth Eagle to eclipse the 1,000 career assist milestone. The captain came in to serve at 23-20 and reached the mark during a rally involving four changes of possession, before being completed on a kill by sophomore Val Mattaliano.
The Eagles defeated the Crusaders in three tightly contested games, 25-18, 25-21, 25-20. Baader recorded her first career double-double, leading all Eagles with 13 kills on .440 attack percentage and 10 digs, while sophomore middle hitter Krystle Higgins’ six total blocks and .600 attack percentage (10 kills on 15 attempts) were team highs.
“We’re just now starting to involve our middle hitters in the offense,” Campbell explained. “Teams can’t win a whole lot of matches if they don’t have offensive production out of the middle. We’ve only just now gotten to the point where we can involve them, so that’s why we’re starting to see Krystle be a bigger presence. She is such a great athlete and she continues to have more blocks available for her make that her blocking numbers could sky rocket from where they are now.”
BC concluded the weekend competition with a win against the tournament host Brown (5-6), 3-0. Higgins again led the defensive front recording five total blocks and turning in seven kills in the win. Mattaliano championed the attacking game, hitting .444 on 18 attempts.
“Val has developed a number of shots she can go to,” Campbell said. “As she continues to grow, her spectrum of shots available is going to increase. At this point in the season, she has certainly shown that we can be confident in her.”
Boston College took set one, 25-16. BC stormed out with an eight point run to begin the match. The Bears responded with six points of their own, but a powerful shot from Higgins regained momentum for BC. From there, the Eagles utilized hard hitting from the outside to runaway with the win in set one.
BC took game two, 25-23. The set went point-for-point until late in the game when the Eagles found their rhythm on offense. Sophomore setter Krissy Mussenden connected with Dureva and Higgins on multiple kills and Mattaliano teamed with Higgins on a block for the win.
“Lina was our most consistent hitter this weekend,” Campbell observed. “She hit for good numbers and probably could have had even better stats. She has tools she can be confident with and will be a dangerous weapon headed into ACC play.”
The Eagles finished off the Bears, 25-20, to go 3-0 at the Brown Tournament.
Boston College begins ACC play against Maryland on Tuesday, Sept. 21. Live stats will be available on GameTracker.
