Boston College Athletics
Volleyball Hosts Virginia Tech Thursday
September 28, 2011 | Volleyball
Sept. 28, 2011
Chestnut Hill, Mass. -The Boston College volleyball team continues its home stand this week as Virginia Tech comes to the Heights on for an ACC matchup on Thursday at 7 p.m., before hosting Virginia on Sunday at 12 p.m. Admission to Power Gym is free. Fans unable to attend are invited to follow along with GameTracker (VT/UVA).
The Stage
Boston College (4-10, 0-3 ACC) looks to get its first conference win of the season against a Virginia Tech (8-6, 1-2 ACC) and will try to add another with Virginia (6-7, 0-3 ACC). The Eagles have not beaten either opponent since defeating both the Hokies and the Cavaliers in the same weekend of November 2007.
Last Week
The Eagles opened ACC play on Tuesday against Maryland. BC lost in three close sets, but turned in its highest hitting percentage of the year. NC State and North Carolina then came to town in a pair of weekend matchups. Despite playing well, both matches escaped the Eagles.
Both Virginia and Virginia Tech were defeated in straight sets by conference rivals AVCA No. 21 Miami and No. 23 Florida State last weekend.
Scouting the Eagles
Freshman Courtney Castle led the BC attack with 21 kills this past week. The Orange, Calif. native has been averaging 1.73 kills and 2.57 digs per set this season. Both marks are the second most on the team. Castle's 0.39 aces per set leads the ACC.
Senior Tsvetelina Dureva has racked up a team-best 139 kills so far this year and currently ranks 10th in the conference for kills per game (3.09). The outside hitter has recorded in 10 or more kills in five of the last seven matches.
The core of middle hitters, senior Mollie Kolosky, junior Krystle Higgins and sophomore Melissa McTighe, collectively hit .229 this past week. Production from the center seems to be vital, as three of BC's wins have come when the middles' attack efficiency is at least .225 during a match. Higgins and McTighe also lead the team in blocking, having totaled 42 and 44 on the year.
The Eagles' distribution has largely flowed through setter Cagla Sen, who has tallied a team-best 261 assists to date. Freshman Kellie Barnum saw some time last week, leading the team in assists, including a career-high 29 against North Carolina.
The back-row effort continues to be led by senior captain Brennan Clark. The Mililani, Hawaii native is averaging 5.00 digs per set, the second highest in the ACC. Clark has amassed 240 digs this season and recently became just the second Eagle to eclipse 1,500 career digs. Freshman Lauren Fields has been solid on defense as well. The rookie's 109 digs are second most on the team, while her 2.27 digs per game is third.
Scouting the Hokies
The Virginia Tech offense enters Thursday's match hitting .199 on the year and is led by Cara Baarendse. The junior ranks 10th in the ACC for attack efficiency (.338) and leads VT with 128 kills this season. The Hokies have five players averaging more than two kills per game: Justine Record (2.73), Baarendse (2.56), Jennifer Wiker (2.23), Samantha Gostling (2.10) and Victoria Hamsher (2.04).
Tech relies on defensive specialist Morgan O'Neill and setter Erin Leaser to set up the attack. O'Neill's 3.98 digs per set is eighth most in the ACC, while Leaser has 362 assists and stands at ninth in the conference for assists per set (7.24).
Hamsher has been the biggest net presence for the Hokies. Her 68 blocks tops the conference, while the average of 1.36 blocks per set is second best. Baarendse is also a threat to stop shots, totaling 0.90 blocks per set to date. Tech leads the conference with 133 total blocks.
Record's 0.36 aces per set trails only Castle in the ACC.
Scouting the Cavaliers
Simon Asque leads the Virginia attack with an average of 3.73, third in the ACC, and 164 kills, while Jessica O'Shoney's offensive efficiency of .373, fourth in the ACC, is the highest on the team. Mallory Woolridge also ranks in the conference's top 10 for hitting percentage (.341). Collectively, the Cavaliers are hitting .236 on the year, but have given up a .220 attack percentage to their opponents.
Virtually all of the offense flows through Beth Wildermuth, who has 454 of the teams 569 assists and stands at fifth in the conference with 10.32 assists per game.
On defense, O'Shoney has stopped 43 shots (0.98 bpg) and Emily Rottman has made 195 digs (4.43 dpg). The Cavs are even against their opponents when it comes to blocking, while they average slightly more digs per set than the opposition, 16.6 to 16.4.
