By Madeline Sattler, News Staff
The Northeastern volleyball team finished the regular season on the road with two games in Virginia last weekend, coming out with a win and a loss, both in three-set sweeps.
The Huskies were swept by the James Madison University Dukes on Friday night (25-19, 25-23, 25-20). The defeat was only the third regular season loss for Northeastern.
“This is what can happen on any given night you get out there and a team can have some very different characteristics,” head coach Ken Nichols said. “The most important thing is how you respond to it and we’ve struggled a little bit when teams are really playing that well against us.”
After the loss, the Huskies came out strong on Saturday and swept George Mason University. The Patriots dropped straight sets (25-15, 25-18, 25-16).
Northeastern opened up the first set against George Mason with three straight points, but the Patriots eventually tied it at 13. The Huskies would follow with seven straight points.
Kills by senior outside hitter Jasmine Marta and junior outside hitter Kelly Bacon sealed the opening set victory for Northeastern. Marta had four of her six kills in the set.
The second set saw a lot of back and forth action between the two teams. Northeastern would again take the lead for good after being tied at 13.
“This is conference, everybody’s pretty equally matched,” Nichols said.
Northeastern finished the set with four straight kills – two by Bacon, one by junior outside hitter Hanna Gibeau and one by sophomore setter Jillian Briner.
Junior setter Ina Kamenova had nine of her 21 assists in the middle frame and Bacon slammed in six of her 16 kills.
In the third set, the Huskies took control from the start opening with a 5-2 lead. They took advantage of eight Patriot errors to finish the sweep.
Sophomore libero Natalia Skiba anchored the defense with 17 digs. Briner scooped up 13 digs to go along with her 20 assists.
“What’s different this year is what I know about this group and their ability to play exceptionally well,” Nichols said.
The victory came less than 24 hours after Northeastern was stunned by the Dukes despite big contributions by Bacon (11 kills and 15 digs), Kamenova (21 assists) and Skiba (19 digs).
“I definitely think in every game we learn something new,” Skiba said. “Even with three losses, it will prepare us for this weekend.”
Earlier in the season, the Huskies swept James Madison at Solomon Court. But Nichols noted that this time James Madison took advantage of playing on their own court and came out with a lot of energy.
“[They had] an incredibly energized crowd; the place was packed,” Nichols said. “JMU clearly fed off it, they were nearly flawless.”
Northeastern finished the season 20-6 with a 9-3 record against the Colonial Athletic Association. The loss to James Madison dropped the Huskies to third place in the CAA.
Towson University won the regular season title and therefore will host the postseason tournament in Baltimore, Md. The Tigers, along with the University of Delaware, earned first round byes.
Northeastern will take on James Madison for a third time in the first round of the playoffs. First serve is at 4 p.m. on Friday and can be viewed on CAA.com. The winner of the match will take on Delaware on Saturday afternoon.
“I think we’ll be ready, I want them to step up at the service line and serve tough,” Nichols said. “I think that will make all the difference in the match.”
