Box Score - Boston College 3, South Alabama 1 (.pdf)CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – After splitting its first two sets with Boston College, the University of South Alabama volleyball team dropped the final two of the match, handing the Jaguars a 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 12-25, 16-25) season-opening loss to the Eagles Friday night at the Boston College Invitational held at Power Gym.
"We came out from the beginning and fought and made Boston College earn their points in the first two sets," fourth-year South Alabama head coach Amy Hendrichovsky said. "I think during the third and fourth sets we lost our groove with serve-and-pass. Boston College also executed at a high level during those two sets. I feel that we did some really nice things in the match though. I saw some great effort and hustle on our side and it's just about maintaining our composure and work ethic for the entire match."
USA (0-1) will now take on Sacred Heart and Providence on Saturday at 12 p.m. (CT) and 3:30 p.m. (CT), respectively, to close out tournament play.
Mechell Daniel led the Jaguars offensively with 16 kills, while Nikki Gittens recorded eight kills and Kolby Meeks and Deanna Canfield each had seven kills of their own. Sarah Richardson was credited with six kills and three solo blocks.
Boston College (1-0) was paced by Katty Workman's match-high 24 kills. Workman recorded a .372 hitting percentage on 43 attacks. Workman just missed a double-double as she had nine digs.
Sol Calvete also ended the night in double digits offensively with 12 kills. Calvete also hit above .300 registering a .346 hitting percentage.
As a team, the Eagles held a decided advantage offensively hitting .380 (60-14-121) compared to USA's .234 (48-19-124).
SET ONE: BOSTON COLLEGE 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 23South Alabama got off to a quick start, jumping out to a 6-1 advantage following a kill by Daniel. USA later extended its lead out to nine (11-2) after a bad set by Boston College.
With the Jaguars still holding an eight-point advantage six points later at 13-5, BC began to battle back. The Eagles began their comeback by picking up six of the next seven points, Workman and Brittany Pavich each adding a pair of kills during the run. Boston College kept chipping away at the Jag advantage and tied the set up at 17-17 on a solo block by Anna Skold. BC took its first lead of the evening three points later following a Jaguar attack error to put the host school out in front 19-18.
From there, the Eagles would maintain the lead. Meeks pulled USA to within one late as her fifth kill of the frame cut the deficit to 24-23, but BC would hold on to take the first set on the next point as Calvete clinched the 25-23 first-set victory with a kill of her own.
The Eagles were very efficient during the opening set, registering a .357 hitting percentage (15-3-31).
SET TWO: SOUTH ALABAMA 25, BOSTON COLLEGE 23In the second set, South Alabama pushed across five unanswered points to break an early 4-4 tie and take a five-point advantage. USA took advantage of a pair of Eagle attack errors to begin the run and then sandwiched a Savannah Stewart ace around kills from Gittens and Daniels to go up 9-4.
With BC trailing by three (11-8) following a solo block by Julia Topor, the Jaguars reeled off six of the next seven points to extend their lead out to 17-9.
The Eagles would answer back with a 6-0 run to trim the deficit to two. BC began the scoring on kills by McKenna Goss and Michelle Klinikowski, and then following three-straight Jaguar miscues, Workman dropped in her 10th kill of the match to narrow the South Alabama lead to 17-15.
Gittens and Canfield came right back with a kill each on the next two points to stretch USA's lead back out to four.
The Jaguars later held set-point at 24-19 after a pair of kills by Daniel, her 11th and 12th of the match, and an ace by Emma Anderson, but Boston College would not go away as it answered back with four-straight points to pull within one. Workman recorded a putaway for BC to ignite the Eagle run and then after a block by Kam McLain, USA had a pair of bad sets to make it 24-23.
On the next point though, Daniel again came up big for the Jaguars as she slammed home her ninth kill of the second set to seal the 25-23 victory to even the match at a set apiece.
SET THREE: BOSTON COLLEGE 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 12Holding a 7-6 advantage early on in the third set, Boston College broke things open with a 9-0 run. Workman had three kills, while McLain had two kills of her own during the scoring run for the Eagles.
BC later took a double-digit lead (16-6) on a kill by McLain and went on to take the third set, 25-12.
The Eagles recorded 15 kills on 27 attacks and committed just two errors for a .481 hitting percentage during the frame. The Jaguars managed just eight kills of their own in the set.
SET FOUR: BOSTON COLLEGE 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 16In the fourth and final set of the match, Boston College broke a 2-2 tie and took control with another run, this time picking up seven of the next nine points. Topor capped off the scoring and gave the Eagles a 9-4 advantage with her fourth kill of the match. Workman continued to be the main offensive weapon for BC during the run as she added two more kills.
The Eagles later stretched their lead out to eight (15-7) following a Jag attack error.
Trailing 19-11, South Alabama trimmed the deficit to three with kills from Sarah Richardson, Katelyn Lochner and Arissa Chappell, but USA would get no closer as BC went on to take the set and the match with the 25-16 victory.
NOTES: Friday night's match versus Boston College marked the first-ever versus the Eagles for South Alabama. USA now holds an all-time record of 2-23 (.080) versus current members from the Atlantic Coast Conference. The last time the Jaguars defeated an ACC member was back during 1988 season when South Alabama defeated Clemson, 3-1 at the Lady Blazer Invitational in Birmingham, Ala. Emily Hundt made her first career start at the libero position versus the Eagles. Three of South Alabama's seven newcomers – Arissa Chappell, Katelyn Lochner and Kristina Alabastro – saw their first action in a Jaguar uniform. With the loss, USA falls to 13-28 all-time in its season openers.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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