Boston College Athletics
Boston College
5-10, 1-3ACC
Virginia Tech
8-7, 1-3ACC
Volleyball Sweeps Virginia Tech
September 29, 2011 | Volleyball
Sept. 29, 2011
boxscore 
Chestnut Hill, Mass. -Junior middle hitter Krystle Higgins battered Virginia Tech's defense with a phenomenal .533 hitting percentage to lead the Boston College volleyball team in a sweep, 27-25, 25-18, 25-18, on Thursday night in Power Gym. The captain delivered a season-high nine kills and team-best four blocks to lead the Eagles (5-10, 1-3 ACC) past the Hokies (8-7, 1-3 ACC) for their first conference win of the season.
Boston College utilized its season-best hitting percentage of .279 to break apart the Virginia Tech defense that came into the matchup ranked third in the ACC. Freshman Kellie Barnum orchestrated a career-high 34 assists for the offense, while successfully chiming in on 4-of-6 shots of her own.
Senior Tsvetelina Dureva led the Eagles with a match-high 12 kills on .261 hitting, recording her seventh game of double-digit kills this year.
Classmate Brennan Clark championed the back-row effort once again, leading all players with 10 digs and adding five assists as the libero.
Freshman Courtney Castle put away the first two chances she saw to help Boston College jump on Virginia Tech out of the gate. The outside hitter paced her squad with four kills, as the Eagles registered a .343 attack to control most of the first set.
BC led by as many as four in the initial frame, but when ACC blocking leader Victoria Hamsher denied an an attack, the Hokies evened things up, 20-20, late in set No. 1. Hamsher would put her team up by one with a kill on the next play, but sophomore Alex Fitzmorris helped BC keep pace with one of her own.
When a kill and block put BC in a two-point hole, Higgins and Dureva strung together three straight kills to regain the lead, 24-23. However, the advantage was short lived, as the sides exchanged errors to even the score, 25-25.
With the first set hanging in the balance, Barnum connected with Castle to put BC up, before an error by the Hokies handed the game to the Eagles, 27-25.
Virginia Tech emerged from the break to take an early lead in set two, but Boston College evened things at five when the Hokie attack stalled. Castle, the ACC serving leader, posted her only ace of the night to give the Eagles a lead, 6-5, they would not relinquish. Dureva put away six shots on nine attempts and BC hit .242 in the second set to cruise to victory, 25-18.
Tech appeared to regroup after the intermission. The Hokies took control, 10-6, but the Eagles' middles responded with four blocks and a .375 attack percentage down the stretch. Two Virginia Tech errors paired with a kill from Fitzmorris and blocks by Barnum, Fitzmorris and sophomore Melissa McTighe pulled the Eagles even at 11, prompting a Tech timeout.
The sides exchanged points to 15, when Higgins crushed a ball floating over center court to put the Eagles in control. The captain combined with Fitzmorris on another block and ricocheted a shot of the head of a Hokie blocker as Tech tried to stay alive, 18-17.
After another Higgins' kill and an error put BC up, 20-17, sophomore Alexandra Trobbe found the hardwood down the right line and Castle put a shot out of reach of a diving defender on the back-left corner to enhance the Eagles hold, 23-17.
Higgins and Barnum blocked the next shot to give Boston College match-point and after the Hokies snuck in one more kill, Higgins ended the match, 25-18, with her ninth kill of the evening.
Noteables:
- The straight-set victory by the Eagles is the first over Virginia Tech since 2007 and first sweep of the Hokies since 2005.
- Higgins' four blocks moved her into ninth place (217) on BC's all-time blocking list, surpassing Dorota Niemczewska '06, recorded 215 from 2003-06.
- Clark continued her climb on the Eagles' all-time digs list. The Mililani, Hawaii native sits in second with 1,524.
