Boston College Athletics
Hannah Alley Reflects on her Four Years at BC
April 07, 2011 | Lacrosse
April 7, 2011
Chestnut Hill, MA- Senior Hannah Alley has been a role model on the field and in the classroom. The talented midfielder from Lake Forest, Illinois entered this season with 32 career goals and 7 assists, and has added another assist and 14 more goals so far. She has earned three Athletic Director's Awards for Academic Achievement and was named to the 2009-10 All-ACC Academic Honor Roll. Hannah seeks to help the Eagles (8-4) earn a win against Duke this Saturday, April 9 at 1 p.m.
What has been your greatest personal accomplishment? Greatest team accomplishment?
I think personal accomplishments are hard. You think of the things that the team does, and personally it's hard to pick one thing. But if I had to think of one accomplishment, last year we beat Brown in double overtime and I had the winning goal in that game, which was fun because I'd never done that before. That was a great memory for me. For the team, last weekend we beat Virginia for our first win in the ACC, the first of many to come. It was a great win for us, but I also think that our greatest team accomplishment has yet to come. I think that we have a great chance of making it to the NCAA tournament, and when we do, that will be our greatest accomplishment - making it farther.
What is the biggest factor that helped you get to where you are today?
Definitely my teammates and my coaches, and my family has obviously been a huge factor. My older sisters set the way for me. They both played lacrosse at Northwestern and won national championships there so that really set the tone for what I wanted to do in college, and that's still my goal as a senior. I think we have a really great shot of winning the national championship this year. My coaches and especially the four other girls in my grade have really had this attitude of "we can and we will win a national championship". That's what has kept me going and kept me positive.
What are you plans after graduation?
I probably won't continue lacrosse because there is no professional league yet. There is a World Cup team, but I haven't been able to try out for that in the past because of injuries. So after the season I'll have to take some time off from all the running, but I hope to do sports broadcasting after I graduate so that I can still keep sports in my life.
What will you miss the most after you graduate?
The team, for sure. We are literally 24 best friends and there is never really an issue on the team. The locker room is my favorite place just because we all get to hang out and spend time together and when we're on the field it's even better because we're playing for each other. I'm definitely going to miss the camaraderie and sisterhood of the team.
Is there a certain drill at practice that you particularly enjoy?
We have a drill called "4 v 3 continuous" where it's four people against three and you just keep going up and down the field - we always get really competitive with that and there's never a stop to it. We always do that when we need competition or some spark in our practice or in our season. We'll do that drill to get us going and it really just brings us back to having fun.
Is there one moment that stands out in your mind?
I think the win against Virginia, probably just because it's fresh in my mind, but that and our game against Harvard both stand out. It's the first time in the four years that I've been here that we've beat either team. I think our coach said it the best, the UVA win is a new beginning for us at this point in the season - we were coming off three straight losses and then we beat UVA and it's given all of us a new confidence going forward into this critical portion of the season, where we're going to win and we're going to keep going and get to our goal, to make it to the NCAA tournament and beyond.
What is your favorite part about being an athlete at BC?
I think it's the camaraderie among all of the athletes. We don't have any sororities or fraternities on campus, but I think just being an athlete, you feel like you're a part of a family. You always have friends in Conte, or around campus, and it's created a nice environment going here, always having friends and friendly faces around.
-Interview conducted by freshman Matt Moran
