By Emily McCarthy, News Correspondent
It was a successful weekend for the Northeastern volleyball team as they captured a decisive victory over the University of Delaware on Friday and swept Towson University on Saturday, improving to 3-1 in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play. The Huskies followed up the weekend with a 3-1 (22-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-15) victory at the University of Rhode Island Wednesday night, pushing the team’s overall record to 11-7.
In the 3-1 (25-15, 24-26, 25-19, 25-14) win against Delaware, senior outside hitter Hanna Gibeau led the Huskies with a season-high 17 kills and 10 digs en route to her first Northeastern career double-double. She also posted a career-high six blocks.
“Clearly Hanna did an exceptional job not only in front, but we used her through the back as well,” head coach Ken Nichols said.
Both senior outside hitter Kelly Bacon and freshman setter Jamie Bredahl recorded eight kills while senior middle blocker Nichole Kurz had a career-high 15 blocks.
Northeastern won the first set 25-15 but got off to a rough start in the second. After trailing 8-4 to begin the set, the Huskies called a timeout and attempted to battle back and regain the lead. They tied the set three times, at the 14, 16 and 24-point marks, but despite their best efforts lost the set, 24-26.
“We were down a good portion of the set and at the end we started executing the things we said we were going to do and nearly stole the set back,” Nichols said. “That was good because the little rush at the end of the set really demonstrated game plan.”
The Huskies quickly took command of the third set and built a 13-8 lead, forcing the Blue Hens to call a time out. The break did not benefit Delaware, however, as Northeastern went on a 7-1 run following the timeout and never looked back. They eventually won the third set, 25-19.
Northeastern captured the elimination set by a score of 25-14, closing with an 11-2 run.
Nichols cited Delaware’s young team and the Huskies’ serving as keys to the strong finish.
“Teams like to go high risk when they’re in trouble,” Nichols said. “Delaware just couldn’t sustain it. Young players are going to make big kills and they’re going to make big errors and I think really the combination of serving and blocking forced their hand a little bit.”
Northeastern continued their winning ways Saturday night, with a dominating 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-14) win over Towson.
Gibeau tallied nine kills in the match, Bacon contributed eight and junior middle hitter Ava Cramp added another five. Bacon also recorded 14 digs and three aces.
“Clearly everybody contributed offensively and had some great swings,” Nichols said.
Kurz and freshman middle blocker Caterina Rosander combined for eight kills and 10 blocks in the match.
“Nichole Kurz was unhinged; couldn’t make an error,” Nichols said. “She wasn’t hitting hard, she was just hitting to the exact right spot.”
After winning the first two sets, Northeastern began the third set tied at three but quickly went on an 8-3 run and never trailed the remainder of the set. The Huskies went on to win the elimination set 25-14.
With these two weekend wins, the Huskies improved their CAA record to 3-1. They will continue CAA play at home on Saturday when they take on Hofstra at Solomon Court.
“Rankings aside, every match is going to be tough and we know that and teams are always gunning for us,” Nichols said. “They’re always gunning for conference wins. We expect to win every match we play and we always have. I don’t think there was anybody on this schedule we couldn’t beat.”
