By Tim Foley, news staff
The Northeastern women’s volleyball team finished the season with three home losses against the College of Charleston, the College of William & Mary and James Madison University (JMU).
The Huskies began their stretch of three matches in four days against Charleston on Wednesday, Nov. 12. Sophomore setter Jamie Bredahl was back starting for Northeastern, after being limited against Hofstra University due to an ankle injury.
After dropping the first set, the Huskies rallied in the second. Bredahl had nine assists, while freshman outside hitter Brigitte Burcescu finished with seven kills and added two blocks.
Burcescu had 20 kills in the match. Northeastern went on to win the set 25-21.
However, Charleston was more composed in the next sets, and Northeastern was unable to come out with a win. The team pulled ahead in the third and fourth sets, winning both 25-22 and defeating the Huskies in four sets.
During the match, Northeastern senior libero Natalia Skiba surpassed the 600-dig mark for this season.
“It’s pretty unreal,” Skiba, Northeastern’s all-time digs leader, said. “Coming in here, I didn’t expect to do anything like that.”
On Friday, the Huskies took on William & Mary and came out strong in the first set.
Senior middle hitter Alexa Armstrong had six kills and three blocks in the set, propelling Northeastern to a 25-18 win.
William & Mary was able to even the match, winning the second set 25-21 and then running with the momentum.
The Huskies dropped the final two sets and, despite 22 Skiba digs, lost the match 3-1.
The Huskies took the court for the last time on Saturday against JMU.
Saturday’s game was Senior Night for the Huskies. Skiba, Armstrong, defensive specialist Megan Kehoe and outside hitter Ava Cramp were all honored before the match.
JMU was able to pull away late in both of the first two sets.
In the third set, despite a 3-0 Northeastern lead, James Madison came back and took control. The Huskies lost the set 25-19 and were swept in the match.
Head Coach Ken Nichols attributed the Huskies’ struggles in the match to JMU’s passing. The team was also missing sophomore libero Ashlee Asada, out with an ankle injury, whom Nichols called a “lethal server.”
After the match, Skiba said she was “trying not to get emotional.” All four seniors used words such as “unreal” and “bittersweet” to describe the feeling of the season ending.
Armstrong, a psychology and human services major, said she feels like she’s had a “once in a lifetime opportunity” with the Huskies.
“It’s pretty unreal, the sacrifices our staff makes in order to let us do co-op and to be able to thrive as student athletes in the real world, not just as athletes,” Armstrong said.
Cramp, who spent her first year of college at University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., said she transferred to Northeastern because she wanted “the whole package.”
“Athletics, academics, the city life, the co-op life, you know, everything I wanted, I got,” Cramp, a business management major, said.
Kehoe, a physical therapy major, plans to stay involved in volleyball beyond Northeastern. Now that the season is over, she is set to begin coaching soon at Mass Patriots Volleyball Club in Quincy. She said that while playing for Nichols, she learned a lot about the “strategy of the game.”
“You come here and you play a lot of the same teams, and you have so much time to do video and analyze them,” Kehoe said. “So it’s definitely something that I’m taking away.”
Armstrong said she plans to get her masters degree in sports leadership and return to help the team.
“No matter what, I’ll come back and help the coach out,” Armstrong said. “I think I’ll always remain close to these girls.”
Skiba, a mechanical engineering major, discussed her expectations for the team next season.
“I’m just really excited for them next year,” Skiba said. “I’ve seen very positive changes and everyone’s getting better.”
Cramp said of all the groups she has played with, this year’s team had “the most heart.”
Nichols said he expects to see “significant improvement” in the team next year, and will start working right away to prepare the girls for the future.
“I want to contend for a championship every year,” Nichols said. “We’re all in agreement that we want to reestablish that kind of legacy play, and that begins in about two days.”
Photo by Kariman Abuljadayel
