Boston College Athletics
Volleyball Begins ACC Play This Weekend
September 24, 2014 | Volleyball
Game Notes | Season Stats | ACC Stats | ACC Weekly Release
Chestnut Hill, Mass. - Boston College volleyball begins ACC matches this weekend, embarking on a two month period of hard-hitting volleyball. ACC teams have registered 123 nonconference wins this season, the most for the conference since 1992 (134). Florida State is ranked No. 6 and North Carolina is ranked No. 12 in the most current AVCA Poll.
The Eagles travel to Louisville on Friday, September 26 to face the newest ACC member for the first time in the program’s history.
Through the beginning of the 2014 season, Louisville is 8-4 overall and 2-2 at home in The Yum! Center.
Louisville and BC have only one opponent in common so far this season, Minnesota. Louisville took out No. 12 Minnesota in four sets. In the victory, RS junior Laura Blab had 15 kills. The Cardinals won by a two to four point margin in each game, just edging Minnesota for the win. When BC faced Minnesota at the Yale Invitational the Eagles played five sets with the then No. 18 Gophers, just barely falling in the final set 15-13.
Louisville freshman middle blocker/opposite Tess Clark currently leads the ACC in hitting percentage. She is hitting .483% and has 92 kills and 13 errors. A Louisville player also sits atop the assist board. The Cardinals’ junior setter Katie George leads the ACC in assists with 450 total and an average of 10.98 assists per set. Junior libero Roxanne McVey is ranked fourth in the conference in total digs with 176.
“We really need to execute in certain blocking situations. For a high caliber team like Louisville we cannot plan on shutting down all of their hitters, but if we can block and defend well in certain specific situations then we can force them to have to make great plays to score,” said head coach Chris Campbell.
After Friday night, the Eagles will head north to the University of Pittsburgh to face the Panthers for the 20th time since 1990. Pitt holds a 19-1 lead over the Eagles, wielding a six game win streak which BC hopes to break.
The Sunday game at 1:00 p.m. will be televised on ESPN3.
Last time the Panthers and Eagles squared off, Katty Workman had 16 kills and 15 digs in the five set loss. Courtney Castle also posted a double-double tallying 12 kills and 10 digs. In set five, the Panthers outhit BC .381 to .105. Kellie Barnum dished out 37 assists and had 9 kills and 0 errors.
In the 2014 season Pitt is 11-1, their only loss this season coming at the hands of Colorado on September 6. The Panthers are undefeated in six home games this season in the Fitzgerald Field House.
BC and Pitt have not faced any of the same opponents thus far in the season, but Pitt will take on LIU Brooklyn on Thursday evening, an opponent that edged BC in a five-set match on September 13. Pitt ranks third in the nation in assists per set with 14.13 and fourth in kills per set with 14.87.
Some of the Panthers’ standout players include Amanda Orchard, Jessica Wynn, Jenna Potts and Delaney Clesen. This group sits at the top of the conference in multiple statistic categories.
Junior middle hitter Orchard boasts a .459% hitting percentage, good for second in the ACC. Senior outside hitter Wynn is ranked sixth in kills with 134, sitting below BC’s Workman who has accumulated 173 kills this season.
At the net Pitt is led by RS sophomore Potts who has 1.61 blocks per set, ranking her second in the ACC and seventh in the nation. Pitt is anchored in the back row and from the service line by Clesen who is ranked second in digs and first in service aces in the ACC. Clesen is ranked 25th nationally for aces per set with .5 aces/set.
“The biggest challenge when facing a strong libero is to make sure she cannot take over the match with her serve-receive. We need to be able to be able to target other passers to limit her effect on the match,” said Campbell of Clesen.
Through September 22, BC has out-killed its opponents 596 to 533 and has a .220 hitting percentage while holding their opponents to a .187 hitting percentage. BC is 4-0 in three set matches, 0-1 in four setters and 1-5 in five set matches. BC has dug 695 balls this season, whereas opponents have only dug 609.
“Our season and continued improvement is a process. We’ve had a good week of practice and improved some of the problem areas that showed up last weekend. Now we go into the opening of ACC play ready to continue playing better volleyball. Of course, the start of ACC play also generates some extra excitement so our girls will use that for motivation,” said Coach Campbell.
Junior outside hitter Workman has seven double-doubles this season. Senior setter Kellie Barnum sat at third on the all-time assist list when the season began with 2,720. If she matches her 1,109 from last year she will break the record of 3,699 set by Verena Rost in 2002-05. Through 11 matches Barnum has 395 assists.
Courtney Castle has moved into the libero position after playing her three previous seasons as an outside hitter. After missing the first weekend with an injury, Castle as accumulated 145 digs so far this season. She averages 4.03 digs per set.
Freshman middle hitter Brittany Pavich is having a great start to her collegiate career. Through 11 games she has 94 kills, 2.14 k/s, just 26 errors, 187 ta and a .364 hitting percentage.
To receive updates during the Eagles' first ACC matchup with Louisville and keep up with Boston College volleyball news throughout the season, follow @BC_Volleyball on Twitter.
