Boston College Athletics
Boston College
0-1
Florida
1-0
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston College | 11 | 15 | 16 | 0 |
| Florida | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Volleyball Falls to No. 9 Florida in Season Opener
August 26, 2011 | Volleyball
Aug. 26, 2011
Gainesville, Fla. - The Boston College volleyball team was defeated by AVCA No. 9 Florida, 25-11, 25-15, 25-16, in the 2011 season opener on Friday night at the O'Connell Center. The Eagles (0-1) entertained 3,612 fans - the largest crowd BC has ever played in front of - attending the second match of the Active Ankle ACC/SEC Challenge against the host Gators (1-0).
Sophomore Cagla Sen led all players with a match-high 16 assists. Sen added four digs, a block and a kill to the scorecard.
Tsvetelina Dureva led Boston College with five kills and contributed an ace and five digs, while freshman Lauren Fields paced the squad with eight digs.
Taylor Unroe posted a match-best nine digs. Stephanie Ferrell and Kristy Jaeckel notched a team-high seven kills each for the Gators.
Florida took the seven of the first 10 points after the opening whistle; as BC tallied two points from service errors and an ace from Dureva. After kills from Ferrell and Jaeckel, junior Val Mattaliano delivered the first of four points on the nights.
With the score 10-4, the Gators put together quick spurts to assume control of the first set. Successful attacks from Dureva, Sen and Mollie Kolosky were able to add to BC's tally, but UF took game one, 25-11.
Jaeckel opened the second set with two aces, before an attack error gave UF a third. BC got in the game after a long rally was capped when Sen found Mattaliano for a shot that pounded the hardwood. With the score 3-1, a service error gave Florida the serve and Unroe ticketed the Eagles for two aces to push their lead to 6-1.
A kill from Ferrell and assisted block by Kellie Murphy and Cassandra Anderson was followed by Dureva's heated shot down the middle of the pipe. A service error then put BC down, 9-2, but Kolosky added another kill, before two more errors furthered the gap in the score.
The next two points were delivered when Krystle Higgins connected with Sen for a kill and an assisted block, 11-5, but errors continued to hurt BC.
With the score stretched in favor of the Gators, 23-10, the Eagles took four of the next five points with a pair of blocks from sophomores Alex Fitzmorris and Krystle Higgins and couple of serving errors from UF.
Lauren Fields came in to deliver an ace to increase BC's point total to 15, but the ball found the net on the next service and the Gators took set two, 25-15.
Set three opened with an error, but sophomore Melissa McTighe registered her first kill of 2011 to even things at one.
Florida captured the the next two points, before Mattaliano punched home a kill and UF committed an attack error to even the game, 3-3. The sides exchanged errors to fives, but an attack error from BC and kill down the line put UF up by two, 7-5.
Two more Gator kills and ace off of a float serve increased the score to 10-5, before Dureva's shot was blocked wide for a point in favor of BC. After Betsey Smith notched a kill, McTighe delivered a quick cross-court shot to trade points. With the gap down to three, 11-8, a pair of kills and an ace put the Gators up by six.
Dureva then hit another shot that was knocked out of bounds, but UF stole the following four points to increase its advantage, 17-9. The Gators committed errors on two-thirds of the next six plays enabled the Eagles to stay in the game at 19-13.
The Gators registered a kill and an ace prior to Boston College securing points off a Higgins' kill and Jaeckel attack error, but Florida denied two of the Eagles attacks to move the score to 23-15; as UF held on for the win, 25-16.
Boston College will continue the Active Ankle ACC/SEC Challenge against Auburn on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. Fans are invited to follow along via GameTracker.
