Castle Leads Volleyball To Success At Seton Hall Invitational Tournament

The Boston College women's volleyball team ended its trip to the Seton Hall Invitational tournament on a positive note Saturday, sweeping New Jersey Institute of Technology in three straight games, 25-17, 25-16, and 25-15. The victory concluded an encouraging weekend for the Eagles as they improved significantly in each game heading into conference play next week.

Freshman Courtney Castle led the way for the Eagles against NJIT with nine kills, five digs, four blocks and four aces. The performance was especially impressive considering Castle has been out with a stress fracture for the last month. Head coach Chris Campbell was pleased by the strong performance.

"The fact that Courtney was able to come back almost completely cold after a month off and have a game like that is very encouraging," Campbell said. "Especially heading into ACC play next week, it is great to see her back at full strength."

Freshman Kellie Barnum was also instrumental in the Eagles' victory, adding a match-high 12 assists to go along with two kills, three digs, and a couple of aces. Junior Krystle Higgins chipped in with seven kills and five blocks while posting a .429 attack percentage.

Saturday's victory was even more significant considering the team's slow start. In Game 1, the Eagles were swept by TCU, 25-17, 25-16, and 25-15. Although Castle had another strong game with eight kills and nine digs, the Eagles were unable to overcome a slow start. Campbell attributes the loss to the team's inability to start quickly.

"We didn't start well at all against TCU," Campbell said. "We fought our way through it, but we weren't able to close."

After the disappointing loss, the Eagles bounced back with a gutsy performance against tournament host Seton Hall in game two of the tournament. Despite falling behind early 2-0, the Eagles managed to push the Pirates to the limit before falling in five sets, 25-19, 25-19, 17-25, 18-25, and 15-8.

Three BC players had double-doubles in the match, marking the first time since 2006 that women's volleyball has achieved this feat. Sophomore Cagla Sen and Castle each had career nights in the loss. Sen posted a season-high 44 assists and a career-best 20 digs, while Castle added a career-best 14 kills and 15 digs to keep the Eagles in the match. Senior captain Tsvetelina Dureva contributed with 21 kills and 14 digs. Campbell was encouraged with the team's ability to fight back after yet another slow start.

"I was quite happy with the team's ability to stay focused," Campbell said. "The fact that we came back after getting so far behind is a step forward."

The Eagles' record now stands at 4-7 heading into ACC play this week. BC was just 1-19 in conference play last season, and Campbell is hoping that his young team will perform better this year.

"We're starting to form an identity," Campbell said. "We're still very young and trying to learn a new system, but this weekend's performance was encouraging for us."

With such a young team and a tough conference schedule, the Eagles have a challenging road ahead of them. The ACC is one of the most difficult conferences in the country for women's volleyball. Despite this, Campbell remains optimistic about his team's chances in the conference.

"The ACC is strong and getting stronger. Every single team is better than they were last year," Campbell said. "There's no easy matches, but with Courtney coming back strongly this weekend and finishing the tournament with a victory, I think we're starting to figure out who we are as a team."

The Eagles open conference play this Tuesday at 5 p.m. against Maryland. They hope the momentum of their tournament victory Saturday will fuel them to a strong performance against their first ACC opponent. ♦