Boston College Athletics
Volleyball Falls to Maryland in ACC Opener
September 21, 2010 | Volleyball
Sept. 21, 2010
College Park, Md. -
The Boston College volleyball team fell in its conference opener to Maryland, 25-23, 24-26, 25-20, 25-22. The Eagles (8-6, 0-1 ACC) were led by double-doubles from sophomore setter Krissy Mussenden, and junior outside hitter Brennan Clark. Mussenden charted a career-high 55 assists and a season-best 15 digs, while Clark tallied 19 kills on a team-high .277 attack percentage and 21 digs.
"We matched up well against Maryland," head coach Chris Campbell stated. "We made too many mistakes early on in games that turned out to be the difference. I am proud of the team and its resilience, but we can't have errors at critical points in the match. We're a better team than we were two weeks ago and we'll be even better in another two weeks."
On offense, junior Tsvetelina Dureva also had a match-high 19 kills on .244 hitting percentage, while fellow outside hitter, sophomore Val Mattaliano reached double-digit kills(10) for the seventh time this season. Sophomore middle hitter Krystle Higgins and freshman Melissa McTighe led the blocking effort, denying the Terrapins (10-3, 1-0 ACC) on seven occasions.
The match began with BC and Maryland trading points. The two sides were even at 11 points, when the Terps took a slight led and held off a late push by the Eagles for the win, 25-23.
The second set was equally close. Boston College went point-for-point until a Terrapin service error and kill by McTighe put BC up by two, 19-17. Maryland would tie the set at 24, but Mattaliano and McTighe connected on passes from Mussenden to secure the game, 26-24.
"Krissy has done a nice job making good decisions and playing tenacious defense for us since coming back," Campbell said. "She's a great athlete and her volleyball IQ continues to go up."
In the third, the Eagles took a quick 4-1 advantage behind kills from Clark and McTighe and an ace from Mattaliano. BC then surged out to a 10-5 lead behind a block and kill from McTighe and kills from Clark, Dureva and Mattaliano, spurring Maryland to call a timeout at 10-5. The Terps then pulled even at 11. The two sides went point-for-point until 17-17, when Maryland pulled away for the win, 25-20.
Maryland charged out to an 8-2 lead in the fourth set. Clark and Mattaliano put together a trio a kills and a Terp error moved the Eagles to within striking distance, but Maryland pushed the score to a 20-11. Senior middle blocker Melanie Cimino, Clark and two by Mattliano dwindled the lead, 20-15. Two Terrapin timeouts later and kills by the same Eagle trio gave BC life. Clark dished out a couple of her signature serves and a huge block by Cimino pulled the Eagles within one point at 22-21, but Maryland held on for the win, 25-22.
The Eagles resume ACC competition on Friday against N.C. State, before heading to Chapel Hill on Saturday to meet North Carolina.
