Boston College volleyball and Syracuse opened the first week of ACC play on Wednesday, and it couldn’t have been a closer matchup to open conference competition.
In a nailbiter, the Eagles (11–3, 0–1) dropped a back-and-forth fifth set to fall to the Orange (5–6, 1–0) in five sets by scores of 13–25, 25–13, 25–18, 15–25, and 19–17.
BC went on a 12–3 run late in the first set to clinch a win. The Eagles’ quick offense made it difficult for Syracuse to adjust and set up its blockers against BC’s hitters. BC finished with a team hitting percentage of .462 and registered four blocks to Syracuse’s zero.
The second set was the polar opposite of the first. Syracuse flipped the switch and played with much more intensity, and the Eagles’ fast pace of play appeared to have little effect on Syracuse throughout the set. Naomi Franco provided the spark for the Orange with four kills and two blocks in the second set alone to tie up the game 1–1.
Syracuse’s momentum and strong passing carried over from the second set into the third. An abundance of errors on BC’s end and a block party by Syracuse prevented the Eagles from staying competitive late, and the Orange won 25–18.
Down two sets to one, the Eagles ramped up their intensity and started the fourth set with four straight points. The Eagles returned to the fast-paced play that caught Syracuse off guard in the first set.
Syracuse didn’t back down, though, and got back in the game mid-set, cutting BC’s lead to as low as 16–14. Right when it looked like Syracuse might tie things up and pull away, BC ended the set with a 9–1 run led by two kills each from Audrey Della Vedova and Alayna Crabtree.
The final set was the most competitive of the five. BC and Syracuse traded blows, but neither waived in concentration. The set, fittingly, came down to the final point, and down 18–17, BC lost the game on an attack error by Crabtree.
