By Gina-Maria Garcia, News Correspondent

The women’s volleyball team wrapped up their 2011 season with a five-set loss to No. 6 Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Nov. 19 in Newark, Del.

The loss put a halt to the Huskies’ chance of becoming the 2011 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) champions. The team was defeated by scores of 25-23, 15-25, 25-20, 20-25 and 12-15, respectively. The Huskies beat the Rams earlier in the season and, according to players, went into the Nov. 19 match thinking they could beat them again.

“We beat them once this year already and though we knew their weaknesses, we got sucked into their game plan and we lost,” defensive specialist and libero Bri Hollis said.

Outside hitter Janelle Tucker said the setback for the first two sets was that the Rams were consistent in their blocking.
“If it came down to one statistical category, it would be VCU’s blocking that hurt us the most,” she said.

Head coach Ken Nichols added that another setback for the team was that “they didn’t make a lot of errors,” which did not give the Huskies a chance to take advantage of their weaknesses.

Although the team was victorious in the first set, they faced a loss in the second. But Hollis’ consistent serving brought the score from 20-5 to 20-11 in the second set, which triggered the team to have momentum going into the third set.

“In the third set we finally went back to our original plays and hit around [VCU’s] blocks,” she said. “That was a key factor to our win.”

Nichols said he gives credit for the team for bouncing back after trailing. The Huskies’ were defeated in the last two sets, which finished the season for the team.

The Huskies concluded the season with a 21-6 (11-3 CAA) mark, the most wins Northeastern has had since the team started competing in the CAA in 2005. Nichols said this was the youngest team he’s ever coached and is proud of their success. He said that in his entire career he has never heard of another team as successful as the Huskies with only one starting upperclassman.

Tucker said because this year’s team was composed of mostly freshmen and sophomores, the team “will already have chemistry” and work well together for next season.

Two freshmen and three sophomores were honored by the CAA at the annual volleyball awards banquet Nov. 17 in Newark, Del.

Freshman libero Natalia Skiba was named Defensive Specialist of the Year and freshman setter and outside hitter Jillian Briner was selected as Rookie of the Year. Both Skiba and Briner were named to the All-CAA Rookie Team. Sophomore outside hitters Janelle Tucker and Kelly Bacon, and middle hitter Nichole Kurz and named to All-CAA teams along with Skiba.

Nichols said with such a young team and so much talent, Northeastern women’s volleyball is sure to have a great future.

“I’m very excited,” he said. “We can only get better.”