Boston College Athletics
Volleyball Sweeps Two, Beats Harvard and Eastern Illinois
September 05, 2010 | Volleyball
Sept. 4, 2010
Cambridge, Mass. - The Boston College volleyball team concluded the Harvard Tournament with a pair of 3-0 wins over Eastern Illinois and Harvard, Saturday, Sept. 4, at the Malkin Center in Cambridge, Mass. Sophomore outside hitter Val Mattaliano led the Eagles (4-3) on the day with 24 kills and .354 attack percentage.
"Things went well today," head coach Chris Campbell said. "The morning match versus Eastern Illinois was a hard fought match. They are a really good team and have improved a lot over the course of a year. They are going to make some noise the conference. We were tenacious though and managed to squeeze out a win in game one. The momentum carried over to the rest of the match. We did well enough to get a few wins and you don't complain when that happens."
BC began the second day of the tournament with a win over Eastern Illinois, 28-26, 25-18, 25-22. Freshman middle hitter Melissa McTighe bested her career-high with six block assists, as a quartet of Eagles recorded four or more total blocks.
"Melissa finds herself in an ever-growing number of situations in which she feels comfortable at the college level," Campbell said. "She can be a very effective blocker. Right now, we are working on expanding the number of situations for her to excel in."
In the first, the Eagles went point-for-point with the Panthers until teetering between two and three point deficits after the 15th point. At set-point for EIU, 21-24, sophomore setter Krissy Mussenden connected with Mattaliano for a pair of kills and a two Panther attack errors kept BC in the game. With the game tied at 26, junior outside hitters Brennan Clark and Tsvetelina Dureva tallied kills to secure the win.
"Val and Lina finished strong against UNH, so we did not switch their sides for this match," Campbell explained. "They are both very comfortable on either side and did really well this weekend. Blocking determines who plays where. Val was blocking nicely on the right and Lina started swinging with more confidence on the left. That was the highest hitting percentage we've had all season and we'll need that to continue. Play was very balanced all around."
In the second set, Boston College pulled away early for the win, 25-18, and the Eagles came from behind for the win, 25-22, in the third game as middle hitter Melanie Cimino made her second match-winning block in as many days.
In the later game, Boston College defeated the Harvard Crimson in straight sets, 25-14, 25-15, 25-13. Clark recorded the second double-double for the Eagles this year with 11 kills and 13 digs against the Crimson.
"Our goal in the Harvard match was to put more pace on the ball," the head coach stated. "We can always improve, but I was happy, because we had fewer errors, resulting in fewer giveaway points. That is a big focus in volleyball, to make your opponents earn their points. We showed a lot of growth this weekend and we need continue to do that."
The Eagles recorded their highest hitting percentage (.308) since defeating N.C. State on Oct. 3, 2009.
"Passing sets the tone for an offense," Campbell went on. "Krissy did a nice job distributing the ball and Kristen Baader and Brennan did really well passing tonight. You cannot over-emphasize how important those things are."
Boston College returns to action in the Bryant Tournament on Friday, Sept. 10, in Smithfield, R.I. The Eagles will face Holy Cross at 6 p.m. and meet Navy and Bryant University on Saturday.
