By: Nathan Vaughan
The Huskies opened Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play on the road with a pair of victories last Friday and Saturday against teams ranked in the top four in the preseason poll. The Huskies improved their record to 11-5 on the season, and 2-0 in conference play.
“It feels great [to be home] especially considering what happened with our one home game,” said head coach Ken Nichols, referring to when the N-Zone came to the game. “The crowd was incredible and the team was able to feed off the energy; it made a very significant, tangible difference. We are excited to see what happens with the next one.”
The first game was against Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) at a high school site in Mechanicsville, Va. Nichols went with four freshman: middle hitter Nichole Kurz, libero Brianna Hollis and outside hitters Kelly Bacon and Janelle Tucker to start the set. The Huskies won 25-20.
The Huskies struggled more in the second set, tying the game at 17-17 and then taking a short-lived lead. After back-and-forth scoring, Northeastern took the set 30-28, and ultimately won the third 25-20 after taking an early lead.
Freshman outside hitter, Janelle Tucker, finished a kill short of another double double with 10 digs. Fellow freshman outside hitter, Kelly Bacon, tallied 11 kills at a .409 percentage. Senior captain setter and opposite hitter, Britney Brown, posted another double double with a game-high 14 kills, 15 sets. She hit at .500 despite being set 26 times.
The next night, the team traveled to Williamsburg, Va. to take on William & Mary.
The Huskies won the first set 25-20 after kicking off play with a 5-0 run. The second set was Northeastern’s only loss for the weekend – a 25-23 William & Mary victory. The Huskies trailed 18-21 in the third, but pushed to a 25-23 win.
The Tribe appeared to be drained in the final set and the Huskies pulled ahead by 11, winning 25-18.
Brown earned a triple double that night with 19 kills, 24 sets and 11 digs. Her 19 kills were on a .361 hitting average for 36 attempts. Tucker shined again with 16 kills and 15 digs.
The Huskies host another preseason top four against George Mason at 7 p.m. Friday, and they take on James Madison Sunday at 1 p.m.
“I’m excited for the crowd,” said Bacon. “I’m a little nervous but I’m really excited for there to be a big crowd and for us to have a lot of support.”
