Volleyball
Boston College volleyball had previously scheduled an inter-New England round -robin of sorts on Saturday with UConn and Northeastern. After the postponement of the game against UConn, BC still had a crosstown rivalry matchup to look forward to. The Eagles finished the first half of their season this fall without a win, though they played every game against a top-15 opponent.
More than four months after its season started, BC (1-8, 0-8 Atlantic Coast) finally got its first win, dispatching the Huskies (0-1) in four sets. The Eagles bounced back from a 21-17 deficit in the first set to win 25-23 and followed it up with a 25-20 victory in the second set. After Northeastern won the third set, BC closed out the game with a 25-14 set win.
Clare Naughton led the Eagles with 12 kills, and Amaka Chukwujekwu added another eight. Chukwujekwu was also a force on the defensive end, notching five blocks.
Prior to Saturday’s game, Northeastern held the all-time series edge with 19 wins to BC’s 11. Saturday’s win for the Eagles was the first of a two-game series this year, and BC is set for a rematch with the Huskies next Saturday.
Softball
BC (1-3) opened its season with a four-game slate, including two games against North Florida (1-3) and two against Jacksonville (2-0). BC’s first weekend out started with a 4-0 loss to Jacksonville, though thunderstorms halted BC’s comeback bid early.
BC rebounded in its second game for a 2-0 win over North Florida. Susannah Anderson, BC’s go-to ace on the mound, pitched a full game including six strikeouts on 23 at-bats. After the Dolphins shut BC out on Friday, the Eagles struck quickly on Saturday, when Jenna Ergle hit a solo homer on the first at-bat of the second inning. Ellie Mataya’s double in the third inning then sent Jules Trevino home for BC’s second and final score of the game.
The Ospreys rebounded in the second game of the doubleheader, however, outscoring BC 3-1 to split the weekend series. North Florida’s Rebecca Koskey opened the floodgates in the fifth inning with a solo home run, followed by two additional runs in the frame, both in two-out situations. Djhane Valido did her part to claw the Eagles back into the game with her third hit coming in the sixth inning to bring home Kamryn Warman. North Florida pitcher Halle Arends closed it out in the seventh inning for a complete-game victory.
BC closed out the weekend with another tight loss, falling 3-2 to the Dolphins. Anderson struggled to match her stellar hurling from Saturday, allowing seven hits and three runs in 3.2 innings before she was replaced by CC Cook. Cook was near perfect the rest of the way and clawed back into the game with a run in both the fourth and sixth innings, but went down quietly in the top of the seventh to end the game.
Skiing
Parker Biele has been a historic figure for BC skiing since she first arrived in Chestnut Hill in 2018. She finished 18th at the 2020 NCAA Championships after becoming the first BC skier to qualify, and the senior reached another historic landmark on Friday at the Burke Winter Carnival in Vermont. Biele became the first BC skier ever to reach the podium at an Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association event with her second-place finish in the second giant slalom race of the weekend. In the first run, Biele finished fifth, while teammates Lauren Geary and Arabella Ng finished in 14th and 19th respectively.
Freshman Zach Simmons made an immediate impression in his first carnival as an Eagle, nearly following Biele’s lead on Saturday with a fourth-place finish in the first men’s giant slalom run. He was also the highest BC finisher in the second giant slalom run, placing eighth. Fellow freshman Matthew Smallhouse scored a ninth place finish in the first giant slalom run.
Featured Graphic by Emma Healy / Heights Editor
