By Jewel Della Valle
It was Senior Night for captain Kira Batura Saturday, but the middle hitter was unable to play due to a torn ligament in her right foot.
Batura, the only senior on the volleyball team, wielding crutches and a cast, was put on the court with the rest of the starting lineup, then subbed out prior to the start of the match. It was her last at Solomon Court, but the Huskies are hoping to change that.
“Our mission now is to get Kira back her Senior Night,” said head coach Ken Nichols.
With two more wins last weekend, the Huskies clinched a spot in the tournament and are in sole possession of second place in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). If the Huskies can win their next two matches and Delaware loses one, the two teams would be tied for first. If this should happen, Northeastern would win the tiebreaker, since they have already beated Delaware this season, and would host the CAA Championship starting Nov. 16.
Batura sustained her injury in game two of a match at Virginia Commonwealth Oct. 27 and had to sit out both games last weekend. Her cast is scheduled to come off Wednesday, and she could play at George Mason and James Madison this weekend, two vital wins if Northeastern hopes to host tournament play.
Last weekend’s wins came in opposite fashion. The Huskies swept last-place UNC-Wilmington (8-22, 1-12 CAA) with ease Friday night, but just barely squeaked out a win versus Georgia State (15-14, 5-8 CAA) Saturday.
Northeastern came out strong against UNC-Wilmington Friday, establishing a 12-9 lead and then went on a 7-0 run to make it 19-9. The Seahawks struggled, and the Huskies took game one on a kill from freshman middle hitter Jillian Robinson. Game two was a closer contest, with UNC-Wilmington taking a 15-14 lead halfway through. The Huskies came back with a kill by freshman setter Britney Brown to break a 21-21 tie, and eventually took the game 30-27.
Northeastern never trailed in game three, going on a 10-0 run early to make it 12-2, while racking up a .333 attacking percentage and holding the Seahawks to -.049, they went on to win game three, 30-14.
“We kind of let up in game two a little bit so we wanted to make sure we finished the game strong and didn’t take it to four, we finished it in three right away,” said junior outside hitter Lauren DeTurk, who was the CAA Player of the Week for the week ending Oct. 28.
Freshman middle hitter Caitlin Tittl had match-highs with 15 kills and a .423 attacking percentage. DeTurk tallied her 16th double-double of the season with 12 kills and 11 digs, while Northeastern’s setters also totaled double-doubles. Sophomore Jessica Tkachuk had a match-high 33 assists and 10 digs, while sophomore libero Leah Neubeck had a match-high 22 digs.
Nichols said last week he and his team worked on making up the difference in defense since Batura wouldn’t be in the lineup.
“She’s arguably the strongest defensive player in conference,” he said. “That’s a big issue.
