The Northeastern volleyball team (2-1, 0-0 CAA) kicked off its season with a 2-1 performance in the Holly Young Invitational, defeating the St. Peter’s Peacocks (1-2, 0-0 MAAC) and the Holy Cross Crusaders (0-3, 0-0 Patriot League) while losing to the University of New Hampshire Wildcats (3-0, 0-0 America East).
The Huskies began the invitation against the St. Peter’s Peacocks, defeating them in four sets 3-1. In her first game as a Husky, redshirt freshman Valentina Meirelles led the team in kills with 15. Junior middle blocker Kaylin Daniels led in blocks with four, sophomore setter Arina Sosinovica led in assists with 25 and senior libero Nadia Koanui led in digs with 17.
The first set was a tight matchup, with the Peacocks pulling away 25-23. The Peacocks had the first three points of the set on consecutive kills before Northeastern tied it and the teams continued going point for point. The set ended up 23-23 before the Peacocks strung together two points off errors by Northeastern to take it 25-23.
In the second set, the Huskies fought from behind to take the set 25-21. Down 10-4, a string of three points kept the set close for the Huskies before they gave up a point. However, the Huskies had the momentum they needed, stringing together a streak of six points followed by another string of eight to put them up 21-12. The Peacocks managed to fight back with a six-point streak of their own to bring it to 21-18, but the Huskies held them off to tie the game at one set each.
The third set was the Peacocks’ lowest scoring set, giving it to the Huskies 25-16. The set stayed close until the score was tied at 10-10 and the Huskies went on a five-point run to go up 15-10. From there, it was the Huskies’ game — they only allowed six more points and took the set 25-16.
The fourth set gave the Huskies the win with a score of 25-19. The set was close early on with each string of points being answered by the other team until the Huskies held a 19-16 lead. They then went on a five-point run to bring the teams to match point, 24-16. While the Peacocks managed to get three more points off two errors by Northeastern and a kill, the Huskies could not be stopped. A kill by Meirelles gave the Huskies the set win 25-16 and the game 3-1.
On the second day of the invitational, Northeastern beat Holy Cross in three straight sets 25-17, 25-17 and 25-22. Freshman opposite hitter Elle Lucas led the team in kills with 9, Sosinovica led in assists with 20 and Koanui led in digs with 14.
With the score 6-5 Northeastern, a four-point run gave the Huskies the lead they needed to help take the first set. The rest of the set stayed close, with Northeastern just edging the Crusaders before Lucas delivered a kill for the final blow to give the Huskies the set 25-17.
The second set was close the whole way with the score 17-15 until the Huskies scored eight of the last 10 points to take the set 25-17.
The final set was the closest of the game, with the biggest lead being three points. With the score 18-18, Northeastern earned three points off two kills and an error by Holy Cross to put them up 21-18. Both teams tacked on two points each to bring the score to 23-20 until two consecutive points for the Crusaders cut Northeastern’s lead with the score at 23-22. Two errors on Holy Cross’ behalf gave the Huskies a 25-22 set win and the game.
In the third and final game of the invitational, the Huskies fell to the University of New Hampshire, or UNH, 3-2. With both teams undefeated so far, the game was set to be a close matchup — and was just that. Freshman setter and opposite hitter Emma Rowell led the team in kills with 14 and Sosinovica and Koanui once again led in assists and digs, respectively.
The first set was the Huskies’ lowest scoring at that point in the tournament, falling 25-11. The Wildcats opened up with a five-point run, and Northeastern did not string together more than two points the entire set, while the Wildcats went on runs every time they scored except their last two points.
The second set was a completely different story for the Huskies. While they went down 3-1 in the beginning, they quickly fought back to be up 7-4. Back-and-forth action continued until the Wildcats tied it up 9-9, but the Huskies were quick to answer with a six-point streak to lead 15-9. The Huskies continued to dominate the Wildcats, taking the set 25-17.
The third set saw another successful run for the Huskies as they put themselves up in the game 2-1 with a 25-19 set win. With the score 9-7 Wildcats, two kills and two errors by UNH put Northeastern up 11-9, and the Huskies maintained their lead for the rest of the set.
In the fourth set, the Wildcats tied the game with a 25-22 set win. UNH went up 4-1 and maintained its lead until the Huskies were down 21-17 and went on a four-point run to tie it up. Unfortunately for the Huskies, the Wildcats were not done fighting yet. UNH scored four of the last five points to take the set and push the game to a winner-takes-all fifth set.
In the fifth set, the Wildcats came out strong, scoring eight of the first twelve points of the game. Then, Northeastern had back-to-back kills by sophomore outside hitter Jane Nelson, and an error on the Wildcats’ fault brought the set to 8-7 UNH. Both teams added on a point before the Wildcats added three points to go up 12-8, putting them within three of winning the game. Despite two kills for Northeastern, the Wildcats could not be stopped as they took the set 15-10 and the game 3-2.
The invitational showed a strong performance for a fairly new Northeastern team. Meirelles, Lucas and Rowell dominated in kills in their first games as Huskies, and Daniels, Sosinovica and Koanui had great success as veterans. Daniels was strong at the net, leading in blocks as Koanui and Sosinovica led in digs and assists, respectively, to set their teammates up for points. The Huskies are back in action Sept. 5 and 6 for the Columbia Invitational in New York, N.Y.
