The Huskies played three matches in Fairfield, Connecticut this weekend, losing to both Fairfield University and Sacred Heart University before fighting off a tournament sweep by beating the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

The first match against the Fairfield University Stags (5-4) resulted in a 3-1 loss for the Huskies (5-5).

The first set of the match started off close with the score at 7-7 until the Stags put together a 5-0 scoring run to take a 12-7 lead. The Huskies never recovered from that and did not take another lead for the remainder of the set. A second 5-0 scoring run solidified the set win for the Stags, 25-17.

In the second set, the Stags hopped out to an early 9-7 lead before NU put together a 7-0 run to take a 14-9 lead. Fairfield was not yet out of it though, as they put together two 3-0 runs to cut their deficit to one at 21-20. Northeastern shut the doors on the set and tied up the match with a 25-22 win.

The Stags put together a 3-0 run to start the third set, followed by a 4-0 run to hop out to an early 10-4 lead. The Huskies put together their own 3-0 and 4-0 runs, bringing the set score to 22-23 before the Stags scored twice and won the set 25-22.

The fourth set was utterly dominated by Fairfield. The Huskies had a 9-8 lead before the Stags put together a 5-0 run to take a 13-9 lead. They finished the match with back-to-back 4-0 runs to secure the set win by a score of 25-15, thus giving them the match win as well.

NU freshman middle blocker Nailah Jenkins posted a .615 hitting percentage throughout the match, while freshman setter Liz Carroll and junior setter Samantha Shupe combined for 32 assists.

The second match also ended with a Husky loss, this time at the hands of Sacred Heart University (4-5) by a score of 3-0.

The first set saw the Huskies jump out to an early 7-3 lead after putting together 3-0 and 4-0 scoring runs. However, a 4-0 run by the Pioneers quickly tied the game at 8-8. Northeastern went on one more 5-0 run in the set, but it proved not to be enough, as Sacred Heart took the set by a score of 25-20.

Set two showcased the problem that the Huskies had all weekend, and that was finishing after jumping out to an early lead. NU had an early 12-10 lead in the set before the Pioneers put together a 4-0 run to take a 16-14 lead. The Huskies did come back to tie the game at 16, but it was not enough as Sacred Heart took the set by a score of 25-22.

The third set saw the Pioneers jump into an early 6-0 lead. NU came back to tie the game at 10, but a 4-0 run followed by a 3-0 run for the Pioneers proved to be too much for the Huskies to overcome, losing the final set by a score of 25-22.

NU senior middle blocker Natalie Shollin posted a .583 hitting percentage, while Shupe put together another impressive match with 24 assists.

The final match shined some light on the struggling Huskies, who beat the NJIT Highlanders (1-10) 3-0.

The first set of the third match saw NU hop out to a quick 13-6 lead with four consecutive 3-0 runs. The Highlanders were not done yet, however, as they brought the game down to the final points. The Huskies finally proved triumphant in a win-by-two situation, winning the set by a score of 26-24.

The second set also started off well for the Huskies, who earned an early 11-3 lead on the back of a 5-0 scoring run. NU commanded the game after that, winning the set by a final score of 25-17.

The final set of the match was a similar story to the previous one. The Huskies catapulted themselves to an early 14-5 lead on the back of yet another 5-0 run. One more 5-0 run later and the Huskies ran away with the win, defeating the Highlanders by a final score of 25-13.

The story of the game again was the NU setters. Shupe and Carroll combined for an even more impressive 37 assists throughout the match.

Northeastern’s record dropped to .500 after the tough weekend, but the team will look to rebound Thursday against Harvard (2-4).