Down 17–7 on the wrong side of a 10–0 run, Boston College volleyball needed to string together momentum to prevent going down 2–0 to Miami.
But the Eagles failed to do that or even deliver a single set win against the Hurricanes on Sunday, as BC (14–10, 3–7 Atlantic Coast) fell 3–0 to Miami (14–6, 7–3) in Coral Gables, Fla. The loss marked the third straight game BC has been swept in.
BC registered nine blocks and 28 kills, while Miami registered four blocks and 42 kills.
The set scores were 25–23, 25–16 and 25–19.
Miami jumped out to an early lead in the first set. Following consecutive kills from Angela Grieve, Grace Lopez and Flormarie Heredia Colon, BC fell behind 9–5. The Eagles, however, fought back, and Jenna Pollock notched back-to-back kills to bring BC within 17–16.
But after more back and forth rallies, Miami came out on top via Grieve’s match-point kill to win 25–23.
Grieve tallied nine total kills while Lopez and Colon combined for 24.
BC recorded 12 kills and hit .219 in the first set, while Miami recorded 15 kills and .229 hit percentage.
“I think the offense, and being able to generate more kills, was mostly the problem and what could have gone better I believe,” BC head coach Jason Kennedy said.
Following its first set loss, BC generated offensive success with Alayna Crabtree’s kill and a Miami attack error, which propelled the Eagles to a 3–1 lead. But the Eagles did not capitalize off this streak, as Miami went on a 10–0 run to take a 17–7 lead.
For much of the second set, BC failed to tally points, as its offense registered 10 kills compared to Miami’s 14.
The second set ended with another Miami kill, as Lopez notched the finisher to take the set 25–16. Lopez tallied the most kills of any Miami or BC player.
“We have to figure out taking care of generating our own points a little bit better than we have so far the past weekend,” Kennedy said.
Julia Haggerty fired a kill to give the Eagles a 1–0 lead to begin the third set. This lead, however, would be short-lived, as Miami used a 6–0 run to go ahead 16–11 over BC.
But BC didn’t give up, as Haggerty recorded back-to-back blocks, which minimized the Eagles’ point differential from being down 16–13 to only 16–15.
Blocks have been a strong suit for the Eagles all season, as they are ranked second in the ACC in blocks per game with 2.43.
“I think the blocking has been good since the start of ACC play,” Kennedy said. “I think our team does a good job at knowing what is coming from the other side of the net, so generally speaking, we are able to have a pretty good idea of what the other team is trying to run and being able to slow it down.”
But the Hurricanes carried their lead throughout the rest of the third set, and Lopez ended the match with a service ace.
Kennedy noted how well Haggerty has played all season.
“Julia Haggerty has been phenomenal all year,” Kennedy said. “We have to continually recognize how good of a job she is doing anchoring the middle of our defense, but that is something that she has been able to do night in and night out for the last several matches.”
Following the loss, Kennedy said he hopes to see some improvements in a few aspects of the Eagles’ offense.
“I think we have to revisit some of the things that we are doing on offense,” Kennedy said. “I think we have to worry about ourselves a little bit more and not worry so much about what the other side of the net is doing.”
