Virginia Falls in Season Finale at Boston College
BOSTON – Virginia (8-20, 4-14 ACC) outhit Boston College (15-14, 6-12 ACC) but the Eagles used seven aces to capture a 25-22, 25-20, 28-26 sweep of the Cavaliers on Wednesday afternoon in Power Gym. The match was the season finale for Virginia.
Jelena Novakovic (Belgrade, Serbia) led the match with 13 kills for the Cavaliers. Sarah Billiard (Matthews, N.C.) added 10 kills to hit double digits for the 23rd time this season.
Clare Naughton and Jewel Strawberry led the Eagles with 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Makenzie Morrison had a pair of aces and was one of six Boston College players with a service ace in the match.
SET 1: Boston College 25, Virginia 22
After a tight start to the set, Boston College used an ace to spark a 7-0 run. The big swing opened a 16-8 lead for the Eagles.
Virginia rallied back, using a 6-0 run of its own to close within a single point at 18-17. Another 3-0 run, capped by a block from Christine Jarman (Boynton Beach, Fla.) and Milla Ciprian (St. John’s, Fla.) drew the Cavaliers even at 22-22. Boston College, however, answered with a 3-0 run of its own to earn a 25-22 first set.
SET 2: Boston College 25, Virginia 20
A 5-0 start helped Boston College put Virginia in an 8-2 hole out of the gate. The Cavaliers pulled within three twice in the set, but another Eagle run turned a 16-13 score into a 22-14 lead for Boston College.
The Cavaliers were held to just .097 hitting in the set. Boston College added three service aces to secure the 2-0 lead.
SET 3: Boston College 28, Virginia 26
Neither team held a lead of more than two points in a back-and-forth set featuring hot hitting from both Virginia and Boston College. The Cavaliers hit .417 in the set while the Eagles floored 21 kills and hit .410.
The Eagles built a 23-21 lead late in the set, but an ace off the tape from Grace Turner (Cincinnati, Ohio) pulled the Cavaliers even. Virginia staved off three match points but Boston College capitalized on an over pass as Mckenna Goss closed the match.
QUICK HITS
• Novakovic’s 13 kills were the fourth time the junior has had at least 13 this season. She had a season-high 15 against Boston College earlier in the season.
• Ciprian had four blocks to finish the season with 105. The total is the most by a Cavalier freshman since 1989 and the third most by a freshman in program history.
• Ciprian finished the season with 1.35 blocks per set, setting a freshman record at Virginia. The mark is the fourth-best single season blocking pace in Virginia history.
• Kelsey Miller (Crestwood, Ky.) led the match with 13 digs to finish the year with a career-high 413.
• The Cavaliers averaged 2.36 blocks per set, the highest average since 2010 for a Virginia team.