Throughout Boston College volleyball’s season thus far, juniors Alayna Crabtree and Katrina Jensen have led the Eagles in total kills, totaling 167 and 147 kills on the season, respectively. But in BC’s loss to Virginia Tech on Friday, Crabtree recorded six hits and Jensen tallied five.
The Eagles’ hitters were quiet in Friday’s matchup, where BC (13–4, 1–2 Atlantic Coast) fell to the Hokies 3–0 by scores of 27–25, 25–12, and 25–12.
BC started the game off hot on a 6–1 run, but Virginia Tech (9–5, 2–1) stormed back and tied the game up at six apiece. The two teams traded points back and forth the rest of the first set. Senior Izzy Clavenna led BC in kills in the first set with four, but her offensive effort wasn’t enough for BC to earn a win, and the Hokies eked out a 27–25 win in set one.
The Hokies’ momentum continued into set two as Virginia Tech got out to a 6–1 start. Virginia Tech’s Cara Lewis made her presence known, blocking several Eagle attempts and finding the gaps in BC’s formation for two kills.
The Eagles made a number of crucial errors in set two, including mistakes at the service line and double touches. BC’s Julia Haggerty, who ranks third in the ACC in blocks, was silent early on as Virginia Tech overwhelmed the Eagles’ blockers. With Virginia Tech dominating offensively, junior libero Anna Murphy was forced to try and dig out kill after kill, but there wasn’t much she could do and BC fell in the second set 25–12.
The Hokies continued their domination into the third set. Murphy set the Eagles up for success in the back row, digging out kills from the Hokies, but three early attacking errors by Jensen put BC down 5–0 to start the set.
Sydney Peterseon and Lewis’ stood out for the Hokies, and Peterseon finished the game with 11 kills. Crabtree and fellow star attackers Kate Brennan and Jenna Pollock never broke out in Friday’s game and BC’s hitting unit as a whole was silent for the majority of the third set. Virginia clinched out its win with another 25–12 victory in set three.
Too many errors and a lack of substantial offense up front cost the Eagles, who recorded just 25 kills as a team on Friday. With the loss, BC has now lost both of its ACC road matchups this season.
