Boston College Athletics
Volleyball Meets Wake Forest, Duke This Weekend
September 30, 2010 | Volleyball
Sept. 30, 2010
Chestnut Hill, Mass. -
The Boston College volleyball team begins its second weekend of conference play when it travels to Winston-Salem, N.C. to take on the Wake Forest Deamon Deacons on Friday, October 1, at 7 p.m. The Eagles will then face the Duke Blue Devils in Durham, N.C., on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Boston College (8-8, 0-3 ACC) will look to reverse the current three game skid against Wake Forest (9-4, 2-1 ACC). The two sides have only squared off nine times since BC joined the ACC in 2005. The 2009 season saw the Eagles fall in a five-set match at home and a sweep on the road.
BC's lineup features many players are having their most productive seasons to date.
Junior Tsvetelina Dureva's team-leading 187 kills this season are third most in the ACC, while her average of 3.28 kills per set is fifth highest in the conference. The outside hitter has an attack percentage of .231 and is also third on the team in digs (2.46 per set).
Classmate Brennan Clark is second on the team with 147 kills and an average of 2.53 kills per set. The junior, who has seen time at both outside hitter and libero, features the ninth best digs per set average in the ACC at 3.93. Clark moved into fourth place on BC's all-time digs list against North Carolina, recording the 1,046th dig of her career.
Sophomore Val Mattaliano has put away 138 attacks this year, averaging 2.38 per game. The outside hitter has also played a large role in the blocking and service game for BC, with 42 total blocks and 13 service aces. Senior Kristen Baader leads the Eagles from the back row. The captain has an ACC best 21 aces from behind the line and carries the seventh best average of 4.12 digs per set.
The blocking effort is charged by sophomore Krystle Higgins and freshman Melissa McTighe. Higgins boasts a team-best 48 total blocks and an average just shy of one per set, while McTighe keeps pace with 46 blocks.
Against the Tar Heels, senior Melanie Cimino became the 11th Eagle to make 200 career blocks. The middle hitter will climb into the record book when she denies her first attack this weekend.
Last week, the Deamon Deacons followed up a season opening loss to Duke with sweeps over Clemson and Georgia Tech. Wake Forest is led by current ACC Player of the Week, middle hitter Andrea Beck. The sophomore is coming off a weekend where she hit .392, including a career-best 15 kills against Clemson, and totaled 13 blocks.
Duke (11-2, 3-0 ACC) currently holds the best record in the conference. The Blue Devils are coming off of two five-set wins over Georgia Tech and Clemson. Duke will play Maryland on Friday, before meeting Boston College on Saturday. The Eagles will be looking to penetrate the Duke defense, which is limiting teams to .175 attack percentage. BC will need to limit the presence of Claire Smalzer, who is averaging 2.31 kills and 3.38 digs per set, and Ali McCurdy, who is third in the ACC with 4.57 digs per set, to be successful.
Fans are invited to follow the action in a number of ways. Live streaming can be found at Wake Forest Stream and Duke Stream. Live stats can be followed on GameTracker with Deamon Deacon Stats and Blue Devil Stats.
Boston College will host its first home match of the ACC season next weekend. The Eagles will play Virginia on Friday, October 8, at 7 p.m. and Virginia on Sunday, October 10, at 1 p.m. Both games will be played in Power Gym of Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, Mass. Admission is free.
