By Jewel Della Valle
Northeastern’s home winning streak was broken Saturday in a tough but exciting defeat at the hands of defending Colonial Athletic Association-champion Hofstra, which marked the opening of conference play for both teams. The Huskies came back with a win at non-conference Harvard yesterday to make their record 8-10 (0-1 CAA).
The Huskies fell behind by as much as five points early in game one Saturday and couldn’t recover, eventually losing 24-30, but came out roaring in game two, going on an 8-0 run to start the game. Behind junior outside hitter Lauren DeTurk’s 11 kills, the Huskies kept control and lead 23-15 at one point, winning 30-21 to even the match score.
“[Before game two] we talked about working hard and not backing down,” said sophomore libero Leah Neubeck. “We can do it together as a team and just to push and give it everything we got.”
Game three was a tough battle between the two teams jockeying back and forth for the lead throughout the contest. Northeastern looked in control for most of the game, but the Pride kept it close.
As soon as the Huskies pulled ahead, Hofstra evened the score again until finally taking the lead 21-20. The Huskies hung on, scoring much needed points to stay tied when Hofstra led 30-29, 31-30, 32-31 and 33-32. The Pride finally pulled out a 34-32 win when Northeastern made an attacking error.
The Huskies out hit Hofstra .193 to .158, but key service and ball handling errors were what did the Huskies in, with Northeastern making five service errors and the Pride making none.
“We were in control most of the match, it was just our mistakes that let the other team come back in,” said senior captain Kira Batura.
The tough loss in game three took its toll on the Huskies, who came out of the gate slowly in game four, quickly going down 12-4 and never coming close. They eventually lost the game 23-30 and the match.
“Earlier in the season we were playing a little bit streaky from match to match,” said head coach Ken Nichols. “We’re starting to whittle that down, we’re playing a little bit streaky from game to game. We’re hoping to get a little more focused, a little more consistent. Hofstra’s a little more poised, a little more capable, made a few less errors.
