Boston College opens ACC play at home this weekend with a demanding two-match stretch at the Margot Connell Recreational Center, starting Friday against Notre Dame before No. 4 Louisville comes to Chestnut Hill on Sunday for Alumni Day.
The Eagles and Fighting Irish meet Friday, Sept. 25 at 1 p.m., with the Cardinals set for Sunday, Sept. 27 at 1 p.m. Both matches will stream on ACCNX.
BC’s first conference test comes against a Notre Dame team that arrives at 3-6. The Irish began the season with losses to Ball State and Xavier, picked up their first win at Toledo, then played Georgia, Northern Kentucky, Duquesne and College of Charleston before responding with back-to-back straight-set wins over Eastern Illinois.
This will be the 30th meeting between the programs, with the series dating to 1991. Notre Dame leads it 24-5, though Boston College’s latest win in the matchup came in 2024.
Louisville presents an even steeper challenge two days later. The Cardinals are 10-2 and ranked No. 4 in the AVCA Volleyball Poll after opening with five wins over ranked opponents.
Their only losses have come against No. 6 Wisconsin on Aug. 22 and No.
4 Kentucky this past Sunday. Louisville opens ACC play on the road at Syracuse before heading to Boston College.
The Cardinals hold a 14-2 edge in the all-time series, and BC’s most recent victory came in 2019.
Boston College enters league play with momentum after a 9-2 non-conference run. The Eagles controlled the net throughout that stretch, finishing with a 106.0 to 64.0 edge in blocks and averaging 2.79 blocks per set compared with opponents’ 1.68.
Audrey Ross has been the centerpiece of the attack, leading the team with 165 kills, or 4.34 per set, and 5.05 points per set. She’s hit .277 while also adding 87 digs and 28 total blocks. Sam Hoppes has given BC efficient production in the middle, hitting .370 on 211 attacks with 104 kills and ranking second on the team with 123.0 points and 33.0 blocks.
Naomi Watson has been the anchor at the net on defense, piling up a team-best 52.0 total blocks, including 14 solo blocks and 38 block assists. Brooklyn Yelland has led the back row with 131 digs and has also provided the team’s top serving punch with 17 aces.
Across the four tournaments, Boston College went 9-1.
The Eagles also enter conference play with a handful of team and individual marks inside the ACC top 10. Through 38 sets, BC ranks second in blocks at 2.79 per set, fifth in hitting percentage at .266 and sixth in service aces at 1.55 per set.
Ross is second in the league in points per set and fourth in kills per set. Hoppes sits eighth in hitting percentage. Watson ranks sixth in blocks per set, while Yelland is ninth in digs per set and ninth in service aces per set.
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Boston College Has One Weekend Storyline Fans Need To Watch
Boston College fans have a full slate to keep an eye on this weekend, with the Eagles spread across a few different storylines. The baseball program gets its fall exhibition schedule started at Rhode Island, launching a four-game stretch that gives the staff an early look at the roster before the main part of the year arrives. On the soccer side, the womens team is back home to host California in an ACC matchup after taking its first loss of the season and will be looking to steady things quickly.
There is also a familiar name on the NFL side of the ledger, where former Eagle Zay Flowers is working through a hamstring issue. Baltimore is monitoring his status for its next game, and his absence would be another reminder of how much Boston College fans continue to follow its alumni once they leave Chestnut Hill. For a weekend that already carries some significance on campus, Flowers adds an extra layer of interest well beyond the college ranks. [Read more 🡒]
Boston College Defense Faces A Major Depth Test Against Virginia Tech
Boston Colleges first availability report for Saturdays noon matchup with Virginia Tech offers an early look at how thin the defense may be when the Eagles return to Alumni Stadium on ACC Network. The list already includes 11 players out, among them linebacker Bodie Kahoun and defensive lineman Chris Marable Jr., setting up a depth challenge for a unit that has to be ready quickly against an ACC opponent.
The uncertainty does not stop there. Defensive end Kris Jones and defensive back Syair Torrence are among the players marked questionable, leaving Boston College to sort through a defense that has already had to absorb its share of absences and could be forced to lean on more next-man-up answers than usual. [Read more 🡒]
Boston College Faces A Clemson Test That Has Haunted The Eagles
Boston College heads into Historic Riggs Field on Friday with a strong early-season resume and a chance to measure itself against one of the ACCs standard-bearers. The Eagles are 5-1-2 and have gotten production from multiple places on the field, with key players helping both the attack and the back line as the schedule gets tougher. Clemson, ranked 14th, brings a 6-2 mark into the matchup and the kind of offensive punch that can punish any lapse.
Rashford Gyan and Xander Sevian have powered much of Clemsons scoring, and the setting only adds to the challenge for Boston College. These two programs have met 24 times, but the Eagles have had little reason to feel comfortable in this building, where the Tigers have long made life difficult. For a BC team trying to prove its start is more than a fast opening run, this is the kind of conference test that tends to say plenty. [Read more 🡒]