By Maddie Sattler, News Staff
As a Division I college athlete, endurance and strength are always put to the test. During the Aztec Invitational, no game was easy for Husky volleyball players, who played at least four sets in every match.
They lost the first match to University of San Francisco 3-1 before twice going the distance Saturday in five-set matches. They beat San Diego State before falling to Southern Methodist University.
“I think [it was] another fruitful trip in terms of what we’re trying to do,” head coach Ken Nichols said. “We’re trying to get them as much experience as possible playing at a level that emulates the top of our conference, and we’ve done plenty of that these first three weeks.”
On Friday night, the Huskies opened up the tournament against San Francisco with a 25-22 victory. They then dropped three straight 24-26, 13-25 and 19-25.
In the second set, Northeastern went toe-to-toe with the Dons for extra serves, but San Francisco held on at the end.
Freshman setter Jamie Bredahl and senior outside hitter Hanna Gibeau led the team in kills with 11 apiece. Senior setter Ina Kamenova recorded 24 assists while Bredahl added 21, and junior libero Natalia Skiba scooped up 23 digs.
“Clearly we struggled a little bit in that first match,” Nichols said. “We started out pretty good, but we tapered a little too quick and that was frustrating.”
The Huskies were able to come back the following afternoon winning a five-set match. They dropped the first two sets 23-25 and 21-25 and knew they would have to go the distance if they wanted to upset the home team.
In the third set, the Huskies jumped out to the early lead, but eventually the Dons tied things up at 14. Northeastern put the pressure on and finished the set strong. Kills by senior Nichole Kurz and senior outside hitter Janelle Tucker claimed the set for Northeastern.
The fourth set was back and forth for most of the time. Eventually the two teams were tied at 18. Kurz added three kills late in the set and the Huskies tied up the match with a 25-19 fourth set victory.
With the match going to its final set, neither team wanted to be on the losing side of a 3-2 score. The set was back-and-forth all the way to the end. The teams tied up the game late, but Northeastern persevered winning 16-14.
Many Huskies contributed in the afternoon. Senior outside hitter Kelly Bacon had 18 kills, while Tucker and Kurz recorded 13 and 10, respectively. Kamenova notched 29 assists while helping out the defense with 13 digs. Once again Skiba led the defense with 31 digs.
“San Diego State is a perennial top 50 and we were able to steal one from them at home,” Nichols said. “That’s a big win.”
In their final game of the weekend, the Huskies saw themselves on the losing end of a 3-2 match. The game was evenly matched for most of the afternoon, but Southern Methodist University was able to hold things down in the end.
The Huskies dropped the first set 25-21, but came back in the second easing to a 25-20 victory.
The third set saw a great effort by the Huskies who trailed late 22-19. They tied things up at 22 and again at 24 to force extra serves. The Mustangs held on to win 26-24.
In the fourth set, Northeastern trailed, but saw themselves tie things up at 16. They took the lead after and never looked back. Gibeau had three late kills and six Mustang errors finished up the set with Northeastern winning 25-19.
In their second fifth set of the day, the Huskies knew they had a chance to upset Southern Methodist University. The teams battled until they were tied at 12. But the Huskies couldn’t respond to a late Mustang attack and SMU took this one 15-12.
“I think against SMU, we were a little tired,” Nichols said. “We’re gaining the ability to play under pressure though.”
Bredahl notched 25 assists while Skiba recorded 21 digs. Bacon was all over the court with 17 kills and 14 digs. She had 45 kills in the weekend.
“Obviously Kelly (Bacon) was a workhorse over the weekend and took a lot of swings,” Nichols said. “But I think we’re getting a lot of great support from everybody across the board.”
The Huskies return home this weekend to take on cross-town rival Boston College Friday night at 7 p.m. at the Cabot Center. They’ll play Harvard University Saturday and St. John’s University Sunday, both at the Cabot Center, at 7 and 1 p.m. respectively.
