By Tim Foley, News Staff
Northeastern University women’s volleyball team began its season on Friday with a three-game tournament in Orlando, Fla., resulting in Radisson UCF Invitational was the Huskies’ first opportunity to put their squad to the test in the 2014 season. Last year, the team finished with a 19-11 overall record that included a CAA tournament victory against the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
On Friday, with a roster featuring 10 returning players, the Huskies faced the Colonels of Eastern Kentucky University in the first match of the tournament. The Northeastern girls got off to a quick 5-0 lead in the first set, thanks to three assists by sophomore setter Jamie Bredahl.
Despite a 17-9 lead for the Huskies, the Eastern Kentucky attack reeled off six consecutive points. Having narrowed the deficit, the Colonels were eventually able to tie the score at 20. Seven serves later, the Huskies led 24-23, needing only one point to take the first set. However, a kill by Johanna Boyer, Eastern Kentucky’s sophomore outside hitter, tied the score at 24. After a handling error by Eastern Kentucky and a kill from Northeastern middle hitter Alexa Armstrong, the Huskies were able to win the first set.
The suspenseful first set set the tone for the rest of the match. The Huskies were ousted in the next two sets but battled back in the fourth with a 25-22 win to force a fifth set. The Colonels had a fast start in the final set, and while the Huskies were able to close the gap to two points, a few unforced errors by the Northeastern women and strong play by the Eastern Kentucky frontline led to a 2-3 loss in the match.
Following the loss to Eastern Kentucky, the Huskies had less than five hours to regroup for their match against Florida International University. Disappointment from the earlier loss lingered as the lady Huskies dropped the first two sets 18-25 and 16-25 to the Panthers of Florida International.
However, the women showed signs of resilience when they fought to win the third set 26-24. Three kills and an assist from freshman middle blocker Taylor Reiter helped Northeastern win the set – a set allowing a shift in momentum for the Huskies. The women went on to win the final two sets 25-18 and 15-11 to complete the come-from-behind victory.
After splitting the first two matches, the Huskies returned to the court on Saturday to compete against the tournament-hosting University of Central Florida Knights. Having breezed through both of their Friday matches with 3-0 sweeps, the Knights proved to be a formidable opponent for the Huskies. After taking a 12-10 lead, a total of eight attack errors for the Northeastern front line led to a 25-16 loss in the first set.
In the second set, six kills from Kia Bright, a sophomore outside hitter for Central Florida, helped the Knights to get off to an early lead. The Huskies struggled to score and lost the set 25-14.
In the third set, Northeastern managed only 15 points, and the Knights completed the sweep.
While the Huskies have issues to address before the league season starts in three weeks, a number of positive signs can be taken away from the first three games. The women showed their ability to perform under pressure, as they emerged victorious in both sets that were extended to 26 points. They also proved that they can rebound from defeat when they came back to win against Florida International University in five sets.
The starting lineup performed well overall, including setter Bredahl and senior libero Natalia Skiba, who were both selected as 2014 Preseason All-CAA Team Honorees last week.
The Huskies head to Bronx, N.Y., for another non-league tournament hosted by Fordham University this Friday.
Photo by Todd Drexler, Northeastern Athletics
