The Huskies jumped out to an early lead against VCU in the first and second sets.

However, the Rams came back to take the third and fourth sets, before dropping the fifth to Northeastern, ensuring a perfect October record for the squad and an eighth straight win.

Tied at 10 points each and then again at 13 points, Northeastern looked to break away from the Rams. Sophomore outside hitters Kelly Bacon and Janelle Tucker each responded with a kill to go ahead 15-13.

“We talked about not getting into a war with power with this team,” head coach Ken Nichols said. He said he was impressed his team had the courage to go toe to toe with a bigger and older team like the Rams.

VCU grabbed one point but then both teams traded three-point runs. With the score 19-18, the Huskies grabbed two points from a kill by Tucker and an attack error on VCU.

Finally, the Huskies built a lead and closed out the set by earning four of the last five points and a 25-20 win.

Though the second set looked to be a repeat of the first, the Huskies managed to push out to a five point lead with several kills from Tucker, and freshman outside hitter Jillian Briner, who was named Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Rookie of the Week Monday.

Neither team could build much of a lead, but the Huskies battled back from being down by two points to the Rams near the end of the set, taking their second set in a row.

Northeastern ran away with the beginning of the third set. They capitalized on the Rams’ errors and had some powerful kills from Bacon and junior middle hitter, Nicole Bishop, as well as two service aces from Briner.

With an eight-point lead, the Huskies were just five points away from ending the match in the third set. Four errors by the Huskies helped the Rams to diminish the lead.

Northeastern called a timeout after VCU tied the game at 23 points, but the Rams won 10 of the last 11 points and closed out the set.

Nichols said his team learned its lesson after gaining a lead against Hofstra University and losing that match back in September.

“The idea is that you got to stay in the moment and playing for the next point,” Nichols said.

The beginning of the fourth set went back and forth between the two teams. Northeastern couldn’t hold on as the Rams won the set 25-21.

In the fifth and final set, the Huskies came out strong early and held that pace through the 15-point set. Several VCU errors helped the Huskies, but more importantly, kills from Bacon, Tucker, Bishop, Briner and sophomore middle hitter Nichole Kurz, pushed the Huskies to match win.

“Our offense certainly was pretty spectacular,” Nichols said. “We were just so consistent with the attack.”

A final kill by Briner ended the match with a 15-10 set win for the Huskies.

Saturday night was Senior Night at Solomon Court. In their fourth and final season with the Huskies, Ciszek and senior outside hitter, Stephanie Starnes, received flowers and a framed picture from their coaches and teammates.

“Stephanie’s had a tough week, an injury plagued career,” Nichols said. “She comes in every day and works hard, and she’s always got such a great attitude.”

The short ceremony before the game moved the players as they all gave both Starnes and Ciszek hugs after they got back in line with the rest of their teammates.

“Lauryn Ciszek is a brilliant player, executes game plan exceedingly well, you can see that in her percentage hitting,” Nichols said. “She’s a very quiet fighter and always doing what we’re asking her to do.”

The win against VCU meant more to Ciszek than just a great end to the month of October.

“It was a really emotional night for me just because it’s the last time I’m ever playing volleyball,” Ciszek said. “It was an intense win and the really means something to me. [It’s] something I’ll remember forever.”

As a teammate for two years, Tucker had great things to say about both Ciszek and Starnes.

“Both of them have been really great players for all four years, and we’re really going to miss them both,” Tucker said.

The night before, in front of a crowd of several students in costumes, the Huskies beat the College of William & Mary in three sets. Northeastern finished the match against the Tribe with scores of 25-17, 25-18 and 25-15.

Bacon and Briner led the team with 8 kills each while freshman libero Natalia Skiba had a team-high 12 digs.

Northeastern went ahead 16-10 in the second set, William & Mary called a timeout. After the short break they managed to grab five of the next six points.

“I think we could have done things more efficiently,” Kurz said.

The Huskies held off the Tribe attack and closed out the set with a kill from Kelly Bacon, two service aces from Briner and a kill from Bishop.

William & Mary started the third set strong by capitalizing on a few Northeastern errors. But the Huskies rattled off a four-point run to grab their first lead of the set.

“Everybody did a good job and made up for other people’s mistakes,” Kurz said.

With a five point lead over the Tribe, the Huskies pounced on an attack error. Northeastern grabbed seven of the last nine points and captured the match win.

Last week, Skiba, was named Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Rookie of the Week. She leads the CAA with an average of over five digs per set.

“She’s the backbone of the team,” Briner said. “She’s the reason we’re doing well this year.”

The Huskies will start their four-game road trip this weekend with games against Towson University and Delaware.

“We’re number one seed right now, and we’ve got to stay on top and not slip up because we’ve got a chance to host,” Ciszek said.