By Maddie Sattler, News Staff
After suffering three losses on a trip to Ohio for the Dayton Invitational, the Northeastern Volleyball team looked to get the start of their season back on track at Solomon Court.
Northeastern opened up their home play Tuesday night with a 19-game home win streak on the line. They defended their home court, out-playing the University of New Hampshire Wildcats and finished on the winning side of a 3-1 score.
Senior middle hitter Nichole Kurz led the offense with 14 kills including six in the final set. Senior setter Ina Kamenova had 27 assists in the match, while rookie setter Jamie Bredahl was right behind with 26 assists in her home debut. Junior libero Natalia Skiba scooped up 22 digs to hold things down on the defensive side.
“Tonight, I was really impressed with our middles,” head coach Ken Nichols said. “I’m very pleased with the adjustments and I’m thrilled with how the middles performed.”
The Huskies jumped out to an early lead in the first set, with three kills by junior middle hitter Alexa Armstrong helping the 7-3 score.
The Huskies headed to their first set point of the match after a Wildcat service error made the score 24-10. It took five tries, but senior outside hitter Kelly Bacon got the final point of the set giving Northeastern a 25-14 win.
The second set was a little sloppier for Northeastern. They gave points away with 11 of their 28 attacking errors in the frame. The Huskies made it close, pulling within one point at 22-23 towards the end of the set, but UNH held on to win 25-23.
“That second set we couldn’t find the court,” Nichols said. “I think we scored more than half their points for them and these weren’t tough swings or tough situations.”
The Huskies came back big in the third set jumping out to a 7-1 lead, but the Wildcats then closed the gap at 18-15. Northeastern finished the set on a 7-2 run which included two UNH errors to clinch the set.
The fourth set saw the teams trade points back and forth. The Huskies then took a 12-11 lead and never looked back.
An 8-1 run finished the set and clinched the match for the Huskies. Senior outside hitter Hanna Gibeau had the final kill of the night as part of her 11 kill performance.
“I feel like we really pulled it together as a team and used all of our resources,” Bacon said. “Everyone on the court contributed really well to get a good W.”
The victory was the Huskies’ first of the season after they went 0-3 at the Dayton invitational.
The Huskies are looking to build on a 2012 campaign that ended in the quarterfinals of the CAA tournament. This year’s preseason poll picked the Huskies to finish second in the division behind CAA newcomers the College of Charleston.
Northeastern adds six players to the 11 returners.
“The culture of our program has always been such that we just play volleyball; it doesn’t matter what year you are,” Nichols said. “Everybody on this roster comes from great clubs and has had great experiences.”
Bacon is the reigning CAA Player of the Year and was also named to the 2013 Preseason All-CAA team. Skiba was an honorable mention to the team as well.
The Huskies will head to the University of Connecticut this weekend for the UConn invitational. They will journey to the West Coast the following weekend for the Aztec Invitational in San Diego, Calif. before returning home for a Sept. 20 matchup with Boston College.
“We need to go headstrong into each game wanting to beat each team,” Bacon said. “I just want it to be a good season.”
Conference play will begin for the Huskies at the Cabot Center at 7 p.m. on Sept. 27 against the College of Charleston.
