Boston College Eagles Win 2022 National Invitational Volleyball Championship

The Boston College volleyball team has capped off a program best season by winning the 2022 National Invitational Volleyball Championship this evening, defeating Drake 3-1. The victory gives BC 24 total wins this season, the most the team has ever recorded.

BC went 15-4 during the NIVC, defeating Buffalo and St. John’s in straight sets to make it to the quarterfinals, beating Xavier 3-2 to proceed to the semifinals, and going 3-1 against Southern Miss to earn a spot in tonight’s championship, which the Eagles also won by a 3-1 margin.

The Eagles started off dominant tonight, and led 17-6 at one point in the first set. That’s when Drake showed that they weren’t just going to sit back and let BC win, and the Bulldogs pulled within 2 points before an attack error allowed the Eagles to pick up a 25-22 win.

The second set was a back and forth affair, with both teams taking and giving up leads throughout. Ultimately, Drake would earn a 25-21 victory in the second for the Bulldogs’ only win of the game.

The Eagles had their strongest set of the match in the third. They jumped out to a 4-0 lead and never let the Bulldogs catch up from there. Kate Brennan picked up the kill to end the set at 25-18, giving the Eagles a 2-1 lead heading into the fourth.

Much like the second set, the Bulldogs and the Eagles traded points back and forth in the final set of the game. BC looked to have it in the bag after a kill from Izzy Clavenna put her team up 24-20, but Drake followed up with a 5-0 run to take a 25-24 lead. BC then scored 2 straight points to take a 26-25 lead, only for the Bulldogs to do the same and go back up 27-26. Brennan then tied the game up at 27 with a kill, and Alayna Crabtree followed up with a pair of kills to give BC a 29-27 victory in the set and a 3-1 final score.

The NIVC victory is a great step forward for the Eagles, as previous NIVC winners have historically gone on to make the NCAA Tournament the following year. This includes ACC foes Georgia Tech, who won in 2019 and were a top ranked team this year.