A year removed from capturing the National Invitational Volleyball Championship, Boston College volleyball seemed primed to take the next leap and ascend in the ACC.
The Eagles have struggled in conference play this season, however, and Sunday’s matinee at the Margot Connell Recreation Center against Clemson was another reminder of that.
Capitalizing on sloppy play and countless BC errors, Clemson (14–10, 5–7 Atlantic Coast) rolled over the Eagles (14–12, 3–9) in a convincing 3–0 victory by scores of 25–20, 25–23, and 25–16. Despite recording three more kills, BC totaled 21 total errors in the match and never took command. Aźyah Dailey led the Tigers with a team-high 11 kills.
“I think we made too many errors in this match,” BC head coach Jason Kennedy said. “I think we were the aggressor—we had more kills than they did—but we had 50 more hitting errors.”
BC hit .164 in the match, totaling 39 kills and 21 errors on 110 attempts. The Eagles have now lost four out of their last five matches 3–0.
Clemson proved to be the crisper team in the first set. The Tigers committed just one error, compared to the Eagles’ nine. BC struggled to find consistency and never took command of the set. The Eagles hit just .175 during the entire opening set.
With the Eagles leading 15–14, Clemson head coach Jackie Simpson Kirr called a timeout. The Tigers responded with an immediate 5–0 run to distance themselves from BC for the first time all match. Clemson maintained the momentum to seal the first set 25–20.
“They’re a good serving team, and when they could get on a run, they were, unfortunately for us, pretty effective,” Kennedy said.
BC cleaned things up a bit in the second set, as the Eagles hit more efficiently in the highly competitive second frame, finishing with a .378 hitting percentage. Neither squad led by more than three points, and the teams traded points back and forth for much of the set. BC tied the set 15 times.
With the score deadlocked at 23–23, Adria Powell—who finished with seven kills in the match—registered a kill to give the Tigers a match-point opportunity. An ensuing Kennedy Wagner ace closed out the set and gave Clemson a two-set advantage.
“We had to make a change in our lineup a little ways through due to some injuries, so it wasn’t really something we were prepared for and it was an unfortunate reality,” Kennedy said.
The Tigers controlled the third set and sealed the three-set sweep with ease. Trailing 10–8, Clemson went on a 12–1 run to take a sizable nine-point lead, and the Tigers never looked back.
BC played sloppily in the third frame, and many of the issues from the first set resurfaced. Nine errors and a -.091 hitting percentage summed up the Eagles’ struggles.
Katrina Jensen, who led the match with 16 kills, was one of the lone bright spots for BC throughout the match.
“I thought [Jensen] was the aggressor all night,” Kennedy said. “You know, I thought she was probably the best player on the floor.”
