By Tim Foley, news staff
The Northeastern women’s volleyball team hosted the New England Challenge over the weekend, winning two of the three matches and closing out the preseason with a record above .500.
“As just a general statement, if you’re somewhere around .500 out of conference, then you’re tested,” head coach Ken Nichols said. “Otherwise you’ve got to think, ‘Am I giving the right kind of experiences? Are we scheduling too easy or too tough?’”
The Huskies fell to Harvard University on Friday, but came back to defeat Boston College Saturday night. Sunday’s sweep of the University of Massachusetts Lowell brought Northeastern’s record to 7-6, with a week to prepare for the start of Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play.
After winning the first set, 28-26, on Friday, the struggle began for the Northeastern women. The Crimson (5-4) pulled ahead late in the second to even the match. With this, the tide had turned, and the Huskies were not able to adapt.
“[The Crimson] found a degree of chemistry that really worked for them,” Nichols said. “[We] needed a little better direction in terms of game plan.”
Nichols identified blocking, serve-receive and unforced errors as three areas in which the team could have improved. Harvard capitalized on those weaknesses, edging the Huskies in the third set and winning the fourth more handily, sealing the match.
The same mistakes carried into the beginning of Saturday’s match against Boston College. The Huskies fell behind early, losing the first two sets to the Eagles (3-7) and struggling to find a rhythm in the third.
After giving up four consecutive points, the Huskies trailed 9-4.
“We were tentative and error-laden,” Nichols said. “We were scoring too many points for them. But then we found that magical balance of aggression and shot selection.”
Northeastern reeled off five points in a row, and eventually went up, 12-11, having not held a lead since the first set. The Huskies held their own, and three late kills from second-year outside hitter Amy Underdown gave them a 25-21 victory in the set.
Those points contributed to Underdown’s fifth double-double of the season, as she achieved two career highs with 21 digs and 20 kills.
Underdown, who Nichols called an “absolute workhorse,” was one of four Huskies who registered double-digit kills Saturday night.
The attack proved to be well-balanced, mustering 12 kills in the fourth set to propel the Huskies to a fifth frame.
Fourth-year setter Kristen Walding snuck a point on a second ball to give the Huskies a 9-6 lead in the fifth. Walding, who has been splitting time with first-year setter Samantha Shupe, had 22 assists in the match.
“[Walding and Shupe] complement each other incredibly well,” Nichols said. “[Walding] has been incredibly humble. She helps [Shupe] all the time in terms of game plan and strategy. And this is why we win, because nobody is selfish about court time.”
First-year outside hitter Athena Ardila served a crucial ace and pounded down three of her 10 kills late in the fifth, the last of which brought the entire crowd at Solomon Court to its feet.
“The crowd is such a big part of our ability to make a comeback happen like this,” Nichols said. “We greatly appreciate it. I’m glad they were treated not only to a win but obviously some really good volleyball.”
The Huskies rode the momentum from Saturday’s come-from-behind win into Sunday’s contest against UMass Lowell, in which they committed no errors in the first set and gave up only six points to the River Hawks (3-8).
Fourth-year outside hitter Brigitte Burcescu drove home two of her game-high nine kills in the second, adding a block to fortify a 25-12 effort in the set.
Northeastern’s execution continued in the third, as the women built an early lead and maintained it, taking the set, 25-21, to finalize the sweep.
The Huskies will have until Friday to rest up and prepare for their CAA season-opener against the University of North Carolina Wilmington, which will take place in the Cabot Center. Nichols said he hopes this will provide space for the team to get physically and mentally prepared after an intense preseason.
“With the depth [of the lineup] as we start to get healthy again, it creates new dynamics, new options,” Nichols said. “There’s a few more pieces to the orchestra and I’m trying to get everybody in tune […] They’ve been very patient with me and they’re incredibly supportive.”
