Boston College Athletics
Boston College
3-5
Rhode Island
5-4
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston College | 25 | 25 | 26 | 3 |
| Rhode Island | 22 | 21 | 24 | 0 |
Volleyball Sweeps Rhode Island
September 10, 2011 | Volleyball
Sept. 10, 2011
boxscore 
Kingston, R.I. - With 13 kills and 10 digs senior Tsvetelina Dureva delivered her second double-double of the day to power the Boston College volleyball team past Rhode Island, 25-22, 25-21, 26-24, in the final match of the Art Charmichael Invitational on Saturday. The Eagles (3-5) out-blocked the Rams (5-4) 11-to-6 and limited Rhody to a .077 hitting percentage - the lowest by a BC opponent this season - to earn their second straight victory in Keaney Gymnasium.
Senior Brennan Clark charted a match-high 18 digs in the winning effort. In the first match of the day against Columbia, the captain moved into second place on BC's all-time digs list after passing Lauren Schwer (1,377). Clark's dig count stands at 4,017 and trails only former All-American Allison Anderson, who racked up 2,176 scoops at the Heights.
Sophomore Cagla Sen enjoyed a .417 attacking percentage in the match, putting away 5-of-12 shots with no errors. The Istanbul native had a team-high 25 assists, an ace and a block assist as well.
Sophomores Melissa McTighe and Alex Fitzmorris set career-highs of six block assists. The middle hitters added six and three kills, respectively.
Junior captain Krystle Higgins put away her first of five kills on the night to award Boston College the first point of the match and give the Eagles a lead it would not relinquish in set one. Kills from Dureva, Higgins and McTighe helped distance BC by as many as four, but URI climbed back to tie the game at 20.
Ram errors handed control back over the Eagles, 23-20, and after a kill by URI's Catie Steffen, Dureva notched her fifth kill of the opening set to give BC match point. The Rams Kayla Wilson then recorded one of her team-best 11 kills to keep Rhode Island alive, but McTighe punched home the next ball and claimed the win for the Eagles, 25-22.
Rhode Island took the early lead in the second set, but errors enabled Boston College to draw even at sixes. Sen connected with Fitzmorris and Higgins to put BC up by two, 8-6.
Errors continued to hurt URI as the Eagles stretched its lead to as much as seven behind the arms of Sen, Dureva and McTighe. With the score 19-12, Rhody began to climb back into the set, closing the gap to three, 21-18. The first of junior Val Mattaliano's six kills squelched the run and Boston College took the two set lead, 25-21.
The third and deciding set began with a 5-2 run by the Rams, but the Eagles capatilized on a service error and tallied kills by Dureva, Mattaliano and McTighe to go on a 9-3 run to gain the lead, 11-8. The sides then battled back-and-forth with Rhode Island evening the match at 20.
A kill by Fitzmorris put Boston College up, 21-20, and forced a timeout. Mattaliano delivered a successful attack after the break, but the Rams secured a kill and block to close the gap once more, 22-22.
When URI's Jill Anderson put her team up one with a kill, Mattaliano kept pace with one of her own. Sen then delivered her only kill of the set to give BC match point, but the Rams responded on the next play to keep the game going, 24-24.
The lead was handed to Boston College on a service error and Dureva landed a shot to secure the match for BC, 26-24.
The Eagles will resume action on Friday at the Seton Hall Invitational against TCU.
