After 11 straight wins to begin the season while only losing seven total sets, Boston College volleyball finally surrendered its first loss of the season.
With four out of five sets being decided by a two-point margin in BC’s (11–1) 3–2 loss to Bryant (7–7), the Eagles dropped the final game of the Eagle Classic on Saturday.
BC was tested from the start, as the first two sets had to be decided by the win-by-two rule.
Audrey Ross stood out on the scoresheet in the first set, recording three kills during BC’s first seven points as a part of her 18-kill performance in the loss.
Three service aces in a row from Hanna Hoffman lifted the Eagles to a 20–17 lead, but BC lost that lead as the Bulldogs took a 25–24 advantage, sending the match to a win-by-two format. Two straight kills from Bryant’s London Hunt gave her team the 27–25 win.
BC quickly turned it back around with a 26–24 win in set two, never falling more than two points behind as the teams went back and forth.
With BC leading 24–21 late in the second set, Bryant rattled off three consecutive points off attack errors and a service ace to tie things up. But the Eagles stood firm, winning two quick points off a service error and an attack error.
BC tied up the third set 23–23 with kills from Ross and Anna Herrington, but Hunt’s kills solidified a 2–1 lead for Bryant as the Eagles ultimately lost the set 25–23.
Although BC suffered its first loss of the season, the Eagles did not do so without putting up a fight.
With the fourth set tied 9–9, the Eagles went on a five-point rally and never looked back. They finished set four on a 16–5 rampage to send the match into a fifth set.
But after a set defined by back-and-forth serving efforts, with no definitive lead for either side, the Bulldogs pulled away 15–13 to win the match despite 11 kills from BC in the fifth set alone.
BC’s Friday night matchup, on the other hand, marked its 11th straight win—the longest win streak since its 10–0 start in 2022.
In the second game of the Eagle Classic, 27 combined kills from Sequoia Layne and Sam Hoppes led the Eagles to a 3–1 win over Stonehill (1–11).
BC did not waste time making a statement in set one, jumping to 13–6 and 17–9 leads, and eventually coming away with the 25–15 win thanks to kills from Layne and Hoppes.
Stonehill kept set two tight, trailing just 17–16 late in the set. But the Eagles won eight of the next nine points, punctuated by four kills from Layne for a 25–17 win and a 2–0 lead in the match.
The Skyhawks wouldn’t go down without a fight, though, putting together a 25–22 set-three win thanks to 15 team kills. Stonehill’s Mia Berardino led the way with seven kills in the third set, including three kills as the Skyhawks’ final three points.
BC’s fourth set may have been a little too close for comfort for the Eagles.
With Stonehill just one point from victory at 24–23, a bad set from Berardino sent the Eagles to another win-by-two showdown.
A kill gave the Skyhawks a 27–26 lead, but three straight kills from Herrington and Danica Rach paved the way to BC’s 11th consecutive win.
