By Tim Foley, news staff
Following a three-game sweep of the Art Carmichael Invitational, the Northeastern University (NU) women’s volleyball team returned to Boston for its home opener Tuesday, pulling out a five-set victory against the University of New Hampshire (UNH).
With the win, the Huskies moved their record to 5-5 just a week before the start of Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play.
Sophomore middle blocker Natalie Shollin started off the match with three consecutive kills, giving the Huskies an advantage in the first set. Maintaining a healthy lead, the Northeastern women secured the frame 25-20.
But the Wildcats (2-9) battled back in the second, keeping the score even and pulling ahead about midway through the set due to some unforced Husky errors.
“We had so many attack errors and service errors,” coach Ken Nichols said. “And that is indicative of a young team at times. We were playing more like checkers than chess.”
Freshman setter Samantha Shupe started for the Huskies, along with freshmen Athena Ardila and Gabrielle Tschannen and sophomores Shollin and Amy Underdown. Nichols said the six may be the youngest starting lineup he’s ever put on the court.
With four freshmen on the lineup to replace last year’s senior class, the need to learn and adjust is apparent—nothing new for Nichols. The Huskies came into last season with five freshmen, and three the year before that.
“It’s kind of a silly analogy, but it’s like when you have a puppy,” Nichols said. “You want it to stop chewing the shoes, but then it just looks at you with that face, and you’re thinking, ‘Yelling is not going to do anything.’ And so they’re really good kids, they’re smiling and having fun all the time. And so I have to learn to tailor my style a little bit.”
The unforced errors continued into the third set as the Huskies fell behind midway through. Despite a late comeback to push the set past 25 points, they were topped by the Wildcats 28-26.
Entering the fourth set, Nichols encouraged the women to settle down and play a little more conservatively. With this in mind, the Huskies took immediate control. As Northeastern jumped out to a 5-0 lead, outside hitter Ardila landed two kills, contributing to her total of 14 for the night.
Ardila, a Massachusetts native, got the team moving offensively, while Tschannen and senior outside hitter Brigitte Burcescu buckled down on defense. The pair achieved five blocks in the fourth, bolstering the front line and propelling the Huskies 25-13 as the match continued to a decisive fifth set.
The Northeastern women were able to build a lead in the final frame, forcing the Wildcats to scramble late. Middle blocker Underdown landed a final kill to make it 15-12, sealing the five-set victory for the Huskies.
“[Underdown] is definitely a future leader for us,” Nichols said. “She understands the situation. She’s telling them to play up. She’s telling them to play to win. She definitely affects them, which is fun to watch.”
The match against UNH was one of 13 that will take place over a 22-day stretch as the Huskies prepare for conference play.
“You have two opponents for every practice,” Nichols said. “It’s really hard to get in there and talk about nuances. Once you get to conference you can get a little more focused on executing game plan. Right now, the pace is just furious, particularly for the freshmen.”
With three more games before the CAA opener, Northeastern prepares to host the New England Challenge, which will start Friday and continue through the weekend with matches against Harvard, Boston College and the University of Massachusetts Lowell.
