While Boston College volleyball is undefeated at home with seven wins in the Margot Connell Recreation Center and an 11–3 non-conference record, the Eagles’ momentum slowed as it entered stiff ACC competition on the road.
After a three-game slide against conference opponents, BC (11–6, 1–3 Atlantic Coast) ended that streak on Sunday with a commanding 3–1 win over Virginia (8–6, 1–3) in Charlottesville, Va. The set scores were 25–17, 25–23, 25–19, and 25–19.
Freshman Halle Schroder and Samantha Hoppes led BC, notching a total of 21 kills in the winning effort.
After a back and forth with Virginia to start the match, the Eagles broke free and quickly established the tone. Cornelia Roach recorded back-to-back kills, capping off a 5–0 BC run to put it up 10–4 over the Cavaliers.
The Eagles maintained their momentum and never let Virginia back into the set. Schroder pushed BC to a set point with a 24–15 lead, and while Virginia delayed the end of the game with back-to-back points, Katrina Jensen leapt into the air and slammed the final kill of the first set into the canvas to make it 1–0 BC.
Five players recorded kills for BC in the first set, while Sophia Lambros and Grace Penn assisted on eight combined points as well.
The Cavaliers, however, came out of the break firing on all cylinders to start the second set. Virginia racked up a 9–4 lead, which prompted a BC head coach Jason Kennedy timeout to make the necessary adjustments.
After the timeout, the Eagles went on a 7–1 run to regain the lead. BC was led by two service aces, alongside Pollock and Alayna Crabtree kills. Virginia rallied, though, and notched five straight points, but the Eagles stayed within striking distance.
Julia Haggerty and Roach recorded a total of three kills on a BC 5–0 run to make it 20–19, forcing a Cavaliers timeout. But BC continued its streak, and a solo block from Roach and soft kill from Hoppes gave the Eagles a two-point lead to close out the run.
But Virginia snapped the streak and won two of the next three points, and Heyli Velasquez registered two service aces to close out the second set for Virginia to knot the match at one set apiece.
BC jumped out to a 4–0 lead in the third set, but the Cavaliers eventually bounced back with a 6–0 run of their own to take the lead, 7–6. Neither BC nor Virginia could keep the other at bay, battling back and forth throughout the entire set.
Haggerty and Hoppes blasted kills to catapult BC comfortably ahead 23–17. And Roach’s kill coupled with a service error put the finishing touches on the third set for BC.
In the fourth set, BC established an early 9–4 lead over the Cavaliers, but just like every other set, the Eagles could not hold Virginia down for long. The Cavaliers launched a 9–4 run of its own and knotted the game at 13 points apiece, keeping it close for the remainder of the set. BC finally pulled away with three straight points, and Schroder put an end to the match to give BC its first ACC win.
