BC Sports Recap 10/31

Senior Hanna Randolph

Bridgewater Eagles Athletics

The fall athletics season is coming to an end as the postseason is upon us. Senior Hanna Randolph led the way this week with a two goal performance against Roanoke on Wednesday, earning her BCVoice Player of the Week title.

Leyton Pullin, Sports Editor

Bridgewater, Va. – This week, Eagles athletics wrapped up the fall regular season and began the postseason, which will continue into next week as volleyball and women’s soccer will host home matchups in the first round of the playoffs.

Men’s Golf

The men’s golf team finished their fall season with a No. 17 place finish in the O’Briant-Jensen Memorial Tournament. The event saw heavy national competition. Sophomore Hayden Hawes led the way for the Eagles, finishing No. 34 out of the 119 players in the field.

The Eagles will be back in action over spring break.

Men’s Soccer

The men’s soccer program made a trip to Lynchburg on Tuesday, knowing they needed to win to have a hope of making the postseason.

The Hornets had other plans, however, scoring five unanswered goals in the first 62 minutes of play — including four before the break.

Junior Josh Gilliam was the only Eagle to find the back of the net in minute 66 of the contest with a snipe from outside the box to cut the lead to 5-1. 

Lynchburg added one more goal less than two minutes later, which put the final nail in the coffin at 6-1.

With this loss, the men’s soccer team fell short of the postseason by not qualifying for the ODAC’s eight team tournament. 

Women’s Soccer

The BC women’s soccer team entered the week with a chance of the ODAC Regular Season Championship on the line.

The Eagles opened the week with a convincing 3-1 win over Roanoke, behind a superb outing from senior Hanna Randolph. Randolph scored twice and also assisted on the opening goal from sophomore Alicia Keo in the win.

On Saturday, the Eagles hosted Virginia Wesleyan in a match to decide who would take the regular season crown. 

The first half went scoreless, but just under two minutes into the second half, Keo found the back of the net again. This time, it was off of a sophomore Ashley Sabatino pass to put the Eagles in front 1-0. 

Twenty minutes later, the Marlins would take advantage of a scramble in front of the net — putting in a rebound to tie the game on the trashcan goal at 1-1. 

The contest went through two tough overtime periods, but ended in a 1-1 tie — meaning that the Eagles will be the No. 2 seed in the ODAC tournament as they are set to host Randolph-Macon on Tuesday, Nov. 2 at a time yet to be announced.

Field Hockey

The BC field hockey team made the trip to Ashland to take on Randolph-Macon on Wednesday.

The Yellow Jackets dominated the Eagles by taking a 3-0 win and only allowing the Eagles to take two shots, both by first-year Emily Tyler.

The Eagles were able to sneak their way into the postseason by earning the No.6 seed in the ODAC tournament. They will travel to No. 3 Lynchburg on Nov. 2 at a time to be determined.

Volleyball

The BC volleyball team, much like the women’s soccer team, also had a lot on the line headed into the final week of the regular season.

The Eagles opened the week on Wednesday as they hosted Mary Washington in a non-conference matchup. 

BC came out strong out of the gate by taking the opening set 25-22. However, Mary Washington was able to capitalize on BC’s mistakes by taking the next two sets — putting them in the lead at 2-1. 

BC had to work through the adversity and took the fourth set 25-20 to force a deciding fifth set. The BC defense shined in the fifth set, led by first-year Madeline Walker. The Eagles took the fifth set and the match 15-8.

Walker tallied 26 digs, while fifth year senior Jessica Bissmeyer led the attack with 18 kills.

BC made the short trip to EMU with a chance at the No. 4 spot in the ODAC standings on the line.

The Eagles dominated the Royals, for the second time on the year, in straight sets 25-16, 25-17, 25-18. 

The Eagles were able to pick up the convincing win in the Route 42 rivalry with an outstanding performance by sophomore Ashley Casey, who fired 13 kills. Junior Ann-Marie Johnson did her job upfront by adding three blocks along the way.

With the win, the Eagles were able to tie with EMU and Lynchburg for the No.4 spot and won the tiebreaker. Therefore, they will be hosting a first round tournament matchup against the Hornets of Lynchburg on Wednesday, Nov. 3. 

Women’s Swimming

On Friday, the Eagles picked up a convincing win over Gallaudet 215-31. 

Sophomore Katelyn Wiglesworth led the way by breaking the program record in the 100 IM. 

The swim team will be back in action on Saturday, Nov. 13 at home against Randolph and Hollins at 11 a.m.

Men’s Swimming

Also on Friday, the men’s swim team picked up the win over Gallaudet 197-47.

First-year Eric Wilbur led the way for the Eagles by picking up four different wins in the event.

They also will have a home meet on Saturday, Nov. 13 when they host Randolph.

Women’s Cross Country

The women’s cross country team took part in the ODAC Championship event held at BC on Saturday, Oct. 30 and placed No. 5 in the event. 

First-year Emily Smeds placed No. 9 in the event. Up next for the Eagles is a trip to the NCAA South/Southeast Regional event on Saturday, Nov. 13.

Men’s Cross Country

The men’s cross country team also took part in the ODAC Championship event held at BC on Saturday, Oct. 30 and placed No. 5 in the event. 

Sophomore Bennet Cupps led the Eagles by placing No. 26 in the event. Up next for the Eagles is a trip to the NCAA South/Southeast Regional event on Saturday, Nov. 13.

Player of the Week

Senior Hanna Randolph has earned the BCVoice Player of the Week title. The captain scored two goals and added an assist in the Eagles win over Roanoke earlier in the week. For the season, she now sits second in goals for the Eagles with a total of seven goals and she also has three assists. Randolph will look to continue her impact as the Eagles head towards postseason play — starting next week.