After suffering ACC losses at the hands of California and Pittsburgh, Boston College volleyball was searching for a much needed conference win against Virginia on Saturday afternoon in its final game of the season.
But that’s not what the Eagles found, as BC (16–16, 5–15 Atlantic Coast) fell 3–1 to UVA (13–17, 6–14) in front of a home crowd.
While the Eagles had a dominant start to the season, conference play proved to be a whole different monster.
Both teams started off strong as the first set was going almost point for point, continuing until both squads were knotted 22–22 apiece.
In the first set, neither team led by more than two points.
An Audrey Ross kill got BC to 25 points, but with UVA at 24 points, the Eagles needed another point to claim the set.
But a kill from Virginia’s Caroline Lang was the equalizer for UVA tying it up at 25.
Both teams were hungry to grab those last two points. Fortunately, for the Eagles, a kill from Sofija Marjanovic ended the set with a 27–25 BC lead.
The second set told a similar story. BC led for the majority of the set until a ball-handling error gave UVA a point to match BC 23–23.
The Cavaliers didn’t let the first frame repeat itself. The next two points of the game came from UVA after a Jasmine Robinson kill and a Zoey Dood service ace.
Taking the second set 25–23, the game was tied 1–1, and both squads had the opportunity to push ahead.
The third set started with the Eagles leading once again, but UVA punched its way back with a Meredith Reeg service ace—tying the score 9–9.
From this point on, UVA held control and never looked back. Ultimately, the Cavaliers took the third set 25–16, cruising past the Eagles.
UVA led for most of the fourth set, but the effort was there for BC, with kills from Ross, Anna Herrington, and Bella Ehrlich. The trio combined for 34 of BC’s 49 kills in the afternoon.
Ross was a standout player, notching 16 kills. Ehrlich also had a standout game, as she matched her career high of nine kills.
But, for the Eagles, it still wasn’t enough. The Cavaliers took the fourth set 25–21, a devastating way to end the season for BC, which only won five of its 20 conference matchups.
