By Erika Carrubba
The Northeastern volleyball team learned a valuable lesson in Sunday’s 3-1 loss to Virginia Commonwealth: the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is not the America East.
The Huskies had won their previous four matches before dropping the match to VC.
“This conference is much more competitive and there isn’t a team we can sleep on,” Huskies coach Ken Nichols said. “We tried to phone this one in. We looked tired.”
With junior Ivana Pavlisin at the service line in game one, the Huskies took a quick 4-0 lead they would never relinquish. The Rams came within three points late in the game, but a kill from sophomore Kira Batura and a combined block from freshman Lauren DeTurk and junior Ashley Reeves gave NU the game. The team hit .382 and forced 10 VCU errors in the 30-26 win.
The Rams came back in game two, keeping it close until a 16-16 tie. VCU then ran off six consecutive points with the help of three Husky errors. Northeastern rallied to a 29-27 deficit, but were unable to complete the comeback, dropping the game on the next point.
“We psyched ourselves out of this game,” senior Brandie Genibrel said. “We didn’t take it as seriously as we should have and when coach gave us a game plan we didn’t execute.”
VCU took a quick 19-9 lead in game three. The Huskies again attempted to come from behind, getting within one point at 29-28 on a Reeves kill, forcing a VCU timeout. The Rams were able to return Batura’s serve for the final point, winning 30-28.
The Huskies never lead in the final game, hitting just .135 in the 30-23 loss. The loss snapped Genibrel’s double-double streak at six games. However, she did lead the team with 12 kills with senior Larissa Adomat and DeTurk each adding 10. Batura, in her second consecutive game at libero posted 19 digs.
The Huskies defeated CAA opponent William ‘ Mary Friday in a 3-1 win. Junior Whitney Turner led the Husky offense with 25 kills as she saw her first front row action since suffering an early season ankle sprain.
“With Turner back in the lineup it felt like things were returning to normal and our chemistry was coming back,” Adomat said.
The Tribe took a 13-5 lead in game one, but the Huskies battled to a tie at 27. Northeastern took a 30-29 lead, but William ‘ Mary got consecutive points to surge ahead 31-30. The Huskies got back-to-back points on a DeTurk kill and a service ace by Genibrel, and the two teams exchanged points until a Turner kill and a Genibrel kill gave NU the 36-34 victory.
In game two the teams found themselves tied 19 times. Three Turner kills and a block from Reeves and DeTurk gave the Huskies the 32-30 win. The Tribe took game three 30-27 with a .265 attack percentage and 18 kills.
The Huskies took their first lead in game four at 15-14 and held it until the end. The Tribe trimmed the lead to one, but Genibrel’s 19th kill of the match gave NU the 3-1 win. Genibrel and Batura both set career highs in digs with 27 and 35, respectively.
The Huskies won a non-conference game over visiting Harvard on Wednesday in four games. NU took game one quickly, 30-21, before allowing Harvard to rebound in game two with a 30-26 win. NU tallied 14 kills and six blocks in the third frame to take a lopsided 30-17 victory. Game four saw the teams tied as late at 24-24 before Northeastern won the game on kills by Adomat and DeTurk.
