By Tim Foley, news staff
The Northeastern women’s volleyball team played a pair of home games last weekend against the University of Delaware and Towson University. Losing both games in four sets, the Huskies had a difficult time keeping pace with their opponents.
In Friday’s match against the University of Delaware (8-11, 1-3 CAA), Head Coach Ken Nichols said that the team was “considerably healthier” than a week earlier when several players were battling a virus.
Delaware began the match with three consecutive kills, setting the tempo for the remainder of the first set. The Blue Hen attack landed 18 kills in the first set, while the Huskies were plagued by service errors, losing 25-20.
“We’ve played tentative [sic] in some matches and noticed that teams have been able to capitalize,” Nichols said. “So, the pendulum might have swung really far in the other direction this time. We’re just finding that happy medium.”
In the second set, the Huskies were able to keep the score close and pulled away late to even the match at one set apiece. Freshman hitter Brigitte Burcescu had seven kills and a block, while setter Kristen Walding, also a freshman, contributed 12 assists in the set.
The Huskies held a 19-18 lead late in the third set, but gave up six of the next seven points. The Delaware attack came on strong at the end of the set, and the Northeastern women found themselves behind in 2-1 in the match.
Northeastern won the first point of the fourth set, but then gave up six consecutive points. Unable to spark a comeback, the Huskies fell 25-15 and lost the match.
On Sunday afternoon, the Huskies faced the Towson University Tigers at Cabot Center in front of a crowd that had shrunk considerably since their home opener against Boston College just two weeks ago.
Late in the first set, sophomore libero Ashlee Asada had two consecutive aces to narrow Towson’s lead to one, but the Tiger attack responded with five of the 18 kills it had in the set and won 25-20.
Nichols said that the Huskies, who have typically struggled late in sets this season, need to work on “not waiting until 20 to play really hard,” and try to “eke out a lead earlier in the set.”
Caterina Rosander, a sophomore middle hitter, offered her insight on how to close late in sets.
“I think something that we need to do is find that one player that can put the ball away,” Rosander said. “I think we’re a young team, and we haven’t really figured out who that player is yet.”
In the following set, Burcescu had five kills and the Huskies were able to build a seven point lead, which they held for the remainder of the set. Northeastern took the set 25-19, knotting the match and fixing some mistakes, committing only four errors.
The Huskies were unable to maintain their clean play in the third set, committing four errors on serves alone. The Tigers led by as many as nine points and won the set 25-18.
Towson developed an early lead in the fourth set and the Northeastern women struggled against a powerful front line. Towson posted a team hitting percentage of .424 in the set, winning 25-18 and taking the match.
The Huskies had a league season low .131 hitting percentage against Towson, losing the third home game in a row.
Senior captain Alexa Armstrong said she and the coaches discussed inconsistencies in the weekly debrief. The middle hitter said that the team is “trying to work on getting better every single day.”
Sophomore setter Jamie Bredahl led the team with 11 kills against Towson, while Armstrong added six kills and notched a .462 hitting percentage in the match.
The Huskies will travel to N.Y. to take on Hofstra University on Wednesday.
Photo by Kariman Abuljadayel
