By Tim Foley, news staff
The Northeastern University women’s volleyball team split a pair of home matches over the weekend. After defeating Elon University in five sets, the Huskies were swept in three sets by the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW).
The Huskies (10-14, 2-8 CAA) returned home for the first time since Oct. 5 to face Elon (5-20, 0-9 CAA).
In the first set, both teams played consistent volleyball. There were five lead changes in the set, and the score remained close. Knotted at 24, junior outside hitter Cherylain Dizon put down a kill to give Northeastern the advantage.
The following swing from sophomore middle hitter Caterina Rosander solidified the 26-24 win for the Huskies.
Midway through the second set, the Huskies pulled away to a six-point lead.
Elon’s play was riddled with errors, and the Northeastern front line was able to capitalize. Rosander had three kills and a block, and the Huskies took the set 25-18.
The Northeastern women got off to a rough start in the third set, committing four consecutive errors. While they were able to narrow the gap late in the set, the Huskies were unable to complete the comeback and fell 25-22.
“[Elon] changed their [sic] game plan significantly as the match evolved,” Head Coach Ken Nichols said.
Once again, Elon jumped out to an early lead in the fourth set.
The Huskies were not able to string points together and the Phoenix took the set 25-17, tying the match at two sets.
“Some things that we knew we could take advantage of early were there for us and then, as it evolved, we realized ‘we need to catch up,’” Nichols said.
In the fifth set, the Huskies took control. The lead was bolstered by four Dizon kills and eight assists from freshman setter Kristen Walding. The women took the set 15-12 and won the marathon match 3-2.
“I think we just believed in each other,” Walding said. “We knew what we had to do, so then we just tried to execute the best that we could.”
The Northeastern back line had four players with digs in the double digits, including senior defensive specialist Megan Kehoe, who had her league season high 13 digs against Elon.
“She gave us solid senior leadership and she’s very capable in the back row,” he said of Kehoe.
On Sunday, the Huskies returned to the Cabot Center to take on UNCW (16-8, 6-4 CAA).
The Seahawk front line dominated throughout the match. Walding said the attack was “very terminal.” In the first set, UNCW landed 16 kills. The Huskies had a difficult time responding and lost the set 25-20.
In the second set, the Huskies maintained pace with the Seahawks early, but then plateaued. UNCW led by as much as 11 points in the set and won 25-15.
The score differential saw no improvement for the Huskies in the third set, as UNCW scored eight of the first 10 points. The Seahawks continued to build the lead, eventually winning the final set 25-13 and sweeping the match. The Huskies posted the lowest number of kills for the league season in a match which only lasted 80 minutes.
Sophomore libero Ashlee Asada gave credit to UNCW’s passing and serving.
“They were very strategic at just serving it shorter and then deep,” she said. “And then I guess we just had a really difficult time with the float on their serve.”
On Monday, Walding was named Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Rookie of the Week. Nichols said he thought the honor was “overdue.”
Walding earned her seventh double-double of the season in the match against Elon.
“It’s definitely an honor,” Walding said. “But I’d take a team win over that any day.”
Asada said the Northeastern women are “amped for revenge” as they travel to Baltimore, Md., to play Towson University on Thursday.
Photo courtesy Krish Shah
