Boston College
Harvard
New England Challenge Up Next for Eagles
September 12, 2018 | Volleyball
Non-conference season concludes with crosstown clash
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – After three weekends on the road, the Boston College volleyball team returns to Boston for the New England Challenge, Sept. 13-15.
The Eagles take their undefeated record to Harvard on Thursday before playing UMass Lowell in Power Gym on Friday evening. The weekend concludes with a trip to Northeastern on Saturday. The Eagles will to have to adjust to the quick turnaround with the mid-week match, as well as playing three games over three days in three locations.
"The week is one day shorter, so we kind of picked up six-on-six stuff Monday, a little bit earlier in the week than we normally would have," head coach Jason Kennedy said. "This is also the first week we will play three days – we've been used to playing two days, now we're playing three competitive matches in a row. It'll be a grind on us, and then we get right into the ACC next week so the grind is really beginning now.
"All these teams are going to be pretty different," Kennedy said. "Harvard and Northeastern beat us last year, so we've got a little bit of a chip on our shoulder. We're going to have to try to get one, if not both, of those matches this weekend. They're all going to be very different from what we can tell."
Boston College swept every match of the Dartmouth Invitational last weekend, extending its program-best start to 9-0. One of just nine remaining undefeated teams in the nation, the Eagles have not even dropped a set since beating Jacksonville State, 3-2, on Aug. 31 at the GCU Invitational.
"I think we have been able to reduce errors," Kennedy explained. "We've played our style of volleyball, we've been able to play pretty fast. I think by getting the first weekend under our belt we've started to gain some confidence, we're playing with confidence. We are able to get ahead of teams and that's really been effective. When we can play ahead, we play a little bit better."
BC travels to Harvard for a 7 p.m. match on Thursday that will be streamed on ESPN+, then welcomes the River Hawks to Chestnut Hill on Friday for a 6 p.m. match to be broadcast on ACC Network Extra. The Eagles travel to Northeastern on Saturday to close the weekend with a 7 p.m. contest.
