By: Nathan Vaughan, News Staff
The volleyball team fought for a spot in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Tournament last weekend. The fifth-place Huskies are two games out of the fourth-place playoff spot, after beating Towson University 3-1 Friday and losing to the Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens 3-1 Sunday.
The Huskies improved to 14-9 on the season, and 5-4 in CAA play.
“It feels good but it shouldn’t feel any better than any other game,” senior defensive specialist Helene Servillon said. “Because we are supposed to win every point, every match, every game, all the time. We should be going to the post season, so we can’t let any game slide.”
Northeastern led the first set 16-14 before the Tigers rallied for five straight points to take the lead and ultimately win the set 25-20.
In the next set, Huskies held a 20-9 lead and held on to win 25-23.
The third set was closer, and with a total of eight ties and two lead changes. Northeastern took nine of the final 16 points to win 25-23.
In the fourth set the Huskies took 11 of the final 18 points to win the set 25-15, and the match 3-1.
Sunday, the Huskies took on first-place Delaware at Solomon Court. They hadn’t beaten the Fightin’ Blue Hens in their last four meetings, including the 2008 CAA Championship game.
Freshman setter Ina Kamenova helped put the Huskies on a 9-3 run in the first set with her serving, and the Huskies won 25-17.
The Fightin’ Blue Hens jumped out fast in the second set leading 15-9. The Huskies put together a 10-2 run late, but Delaware won 25-23.
“Delaware really started to step it up at the service line, they went higher and higher risk as the match went on, and they never faltered,” head coach Ken Nichols said. “Their serving got so tough, that it kept us just enough out of system. We didn’t make an adjustment quick enough in the second game and we began to pay the price for it.”
The third match was tied at nine until Delaware put together a 7-0 run forcing Nichols to burn his timeouts early. Northeastern could not recover and lost 25-18.
Delaware took control in the final set, putting up a 9-4 run to push the Huskies to a 25-18 loss.
The loss has taken the Huskies playoff future out of their hands. They must win out and hope for help.
“It is pressure but we already have a sense of urgency,” senior captain and middle hitter Caitlin Tittl said. “This is my senior year and I want to go out with a bang. This just makes it a bit more fun and competitive.”
Senior libero Jessica Lascola posted a career-high 32 digs against Towson and 22 against Delaware to push her digs-per-set average up to 5.04, putting her at 41st in the nation.
Virginia Commonwealth travels to Boston to play the Huskies at 7 p.m. tomorrow and William & Mary will be at Solomon Court at 7 p.m. Saturday.
