Heavy-Hitting Eagles Go Undefeated at BC Invitational

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – A first-set loss wasn't enough to phase the Eagles, as the Boston College volleyball team rallied to beat Sacred Heart, 3-1, in the final match of the BC Invitational on Saturday night in Power Gym.

After falling to the Pioneers (1-1), 25-21, in the first frame, the Eagles rebounded to 25-14, 25-14, 25-18 wins and moved to 3-0 on the season.

Boston College hit .260 percent (50 kills – 17 errors – 127 total attacks) and held the Pioneers to .088 percent (44-31-148) through four sets. The Eagles also out blocked Sacred Heart 13-8 and narrowly out dug the Pioneers 60-51.

Senior McKenna Goss hit a match-high 16 kills with just two errors on 35 attempts for a .400 attack percentage, as well as putting up six block assists.

BC Invitational
Boston College 3, Sacred Heart 1
August 25, 2018
Chestnut Hill, Mass. | Power Gym

BC HIGHLIGHTS
- Cat Balido recorded her second double-double of the weekend, hitting 10 kills and notching 12 digs during the match. Sophomore Clare Naughton also hit 10 kills and added two block assists.
- Junior Jane DeJarld lead the Eagles with 27 assists, followed by sophomore Madison McKnight with 13. McKnight also recorded an ace in the match, her fourth of the weekend.
- Sophomore Amaka Chukwujekwu was credited with two solo blocks and four block assists to lead BC while sophomore Ally Mullen had one solo block and five assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1 – The Eagles dropped the first set, falling behind early after a 10-2 run by Sacred Heart put the Pioneers up 11-5. BC climbed back to trail just 22-17, winning five of seven points out of the timeout, and held off three match points but were overtaken by the Pioneers, 25-21.

Set 2 – Boston College came out to a much quicker pace in set two, pulling away 11-5 and forcing a Sacred Heart timeout. A four-point run later in the set put the Eagles up 17-8, and while the teams traded points the remainder of the set, the Eagle lead was enough to hold on to a 25-14 set win.

Set 3 – An impressive set from senior McKenna Goss helped the Eagles to a 25-14 win again in the third set. Hitting 6-0-8 (.750) during the frame, Goss played a major part in BC running away with a 16-6 lead. The teams went back and forth in scoring for the remainder of the set, but the lead the Eagles had built earned them the set victory.

Set 4 – Sacred Heart led the Eagles all through the start of the final set until kills from juniors Jill Strockis and Cat Balido broke through a tie to lead for the first time, 14-13. Sacred Heart stayed close behind but a 6-0 Eagles run finished off the set and match, 25-18.

Senior McKenna Goss on what was working so well for her
"I think our serve receive is really crucial to our offense and in the past we haven't had a very strong serve receive. This season we've really picked that up and have been getting our setter on the net, able to run things in tempo. That gives us a huge advantage over other teams because we run such a fast offense. When passing is on, setting is on and hitting is easy. So my teammates are picking it up and making me look good."

On starting the season 3-0
"It feels amazing. It's still early in the season so we can't get too confident, but a little bit of confidence is really good going into preseason games and tournaments, where we have long weekends and long games. It feels really good."

BC INVITATIONAL ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Boston College (3-0): Clare Naughton, Makenzie Morrison and Jane DeJarld
Sacred Heart (1-1): Liisel Nelis and Sarah Ciszek
Providence (1-2): Allison Impellizeri
Hartford (0-2): Megan Anderson

UP NEXT
BC travels to Phoenix, Ariz. For the Grand Canyon University Invitational, Aug. 31-Sept. 1. The Eagles will take on Jacksonville State, Southern Utah and Grand Canyon.

Heavy-Hitting Eagles Go Undefeated at BC Invitational

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Team Stats

McKenna Goss

Cat Balido

Clare Naughton

Jill Strockis

Players Mentioned

Cat Balido

Amaka Chukwujekwu

Jane DeJarld

McKenna Goss

Madison McKnight

Makenzie Morrison

Ally Mullen

Clare Naughton

Jill Strockis

Players Mentioned

Cat Balido

Amaka Chukwujekwu

Jane DeJarld

McKenna Goss

Madison McKnight

Makenzie Morrison

Ally Mullen

Clare Naughton

Jill Strockis