The Northeastern volleyball team (7-8, 3-3 CAA) defeated the Elon University Phoenix (4-13, 2-4 CAA) in a two-game series on the road Saturday, Oct. 11 and Sunday, Oct. 12. The Huskies took the wins in five sets and three sets, respectively.
The first game of the weekend seemed to be an endless battle as the first three sets all went past the typical set point of 25. Sophomore outside hitter Brynn Smith led the team in kills with 21, junior middle blocker Beatrice Gennari led in blocks with six, freshman setter Sofia King led in assists with 38 and senior libero Nadia Koanui led in digs with 21.
Despite Elon taking the first point of the set, the Huskies were quick to jump ahead 6-2 and maintained the team’s lead through the majority of the set. A kill by Smith put the Huskies up 18-14 before three consecutive points for Elon cut Northeastern’s lead to one. As Northeastern notched two points off errors by Elon, the Phoenix answered back with three points to tie the set.
Three kills and an error by Elon brought the set to match point, 24-22 Northeastern, but the Huskies couldn’t get that last point. The Phoenix took three consecutive points to take set point themselves at 25-24, but a bad serve kept the Huskies in it. The teams went back and forth until three consecutive points, including kills by graduate student outside hitter Svenja Rodenbüsch and Gennari sealed the set in the Huskies’ favor, 29-27.
The second set brought even more chaos than the first — every time it looked like one of the teams had it, the other would battle back. Elon took the early lead 6-3 but two kills and two aces put the Huskies back in the lead 7-6. The teams went point-for-point until Elon brought the score to 10-9. Northeastern was unwilling to let the Phoenix ahead, taking seven of the next nine points, six of which were off kills, to have the largest lead of the set, 16-12.
The Phoenix fired off six consecutive points to quickly diminish Northeastern’s lead and put themselves ahead 18-16. After the teams added three points each, consecutive kills for Northeastern tied the set back up at 21.
The teams once again went point-for-point until an attack error by Elon brought it to Northeastern’s set point. However, like the first set, it wasn’t going to be that easy.
A kill and an ace brought it to set point for Elon, but two consecutive kills once again brought it to match point for Northeastern. Each point either team got was immediately answered by the other until, with the set 30-30, sophomore middle blocker Zehra Yilmaz came up huge for the Huskies. Yilmaz notched two consecutive kills to finally end the set in Northeastern’s favor, 32-30.
While not as much of a marathon as the second set, the third set was still full of the teams battling against one another. Coming off two big set wins, the Huskies jumped out 7-3 over the Phoenix, but the first two sets taught the Huskies that no leads, especially early ones, are safe.
Elon took five of the next six points, four of which came off errors on Northeastern’s part, to tie the set at eight. The teams went back-and-forth until Elon took eight of the next nine points to lead 17-12. Each point was answered until Elon led 20-15. The Huskies battled back and brought it to set point. Unfortunately for Northeastern, four consecutive kills by Elon’s senior outside hitter Clara Simmons gave Elon the set, 26-24, and kept the game going.
The fourth set was Northeastern’s biggest set loss with a three-point difference. Despite Northeastern opening up with a 4-1 lead, Elon was quick to cut the lead down. With Northeastern leading 9-7, five consecutive points put Elon ahead 12-9 until the Huskies tied it back up off an ace by Gennari at 14-14. Both teams struggled to get the edge until, with the score tied at 21, four kills for Elon gave them the set 25-22 and forced a fifth set.
With such a close game so far, it would be expected that the fifth set would follow the same pattern. Yet, it was the opposite. The Huskies were itching to pull out the win in a close game after falling to Towson in similarly close games the weekend before, and they did just that.
The set began with Northeastern taking a 4-1 lead before Elon took two of the next three, cutting the Huskies’ lead to 5-3 — but they were not about to let it get close again. The Huskies took eight consecutive points to lead 13-4. Simmons notched another kill for the Phoenix, but Rodenbüsch fired back one of her own to bring it to game point. Elon managed to tack on another kill, but Rodenbüsch sealed the deal with a kill of her own to give the Huskies the set, 15-5, and the game in five sets.
Sunday’s game was nothing like the day before. Elon failed to answer Northeastern in the same way, and the Huskies completely outplayed the Phoenix. Smith led in kills with 11, Yilmaz led in blocks with four, sophomore setter Arina Sosinovica led in assists with 19 and Koanui led in digs with 16.
The beginning of the first set was reminiscent of the day before as each scoring streak was answered. That lasted until, with the set tied at 10, Northeastern took nine of the next 12 points to lead 19-13. Elon earned a point off of a service error by Sosinovica, but consecutive kills gave Northeastern a 21-14 lead. Rodenbüsch had a service error that gave Elon its last point of the set before the Huskies fired off four points to take the set 25-15.
The second set was the closest of the game, but Northeastern still took the set win by six points. Northeastern held a narrow 7-6 lead until five consecutive points put the team ahead 12-6. Eventually, five consecutive points from Elon brought the set to 16-15, but the Huskies were ready to fight back, going on a five-point streak of their own to lead 21-15. Both teams exchanged three points each before Elon tacked one on to bring the score to 24-19. A kill by redshirt freshman outside hitter Valentina Meirelles ended the Phoenix’s chances with a 25-19 set win.
In the third set, the Phoenix barely stood a chance. Northeastern moved quickly to try and demoralize Elon, opening the set 4-0. Just as Elon managed to cut Northeastern’s lead to 6-4, Northeastern took six straight points to lead 12-4. While Elon tacked on points, the Huskies maintained an eight-point lead. With the set 21-13, the Huskies took four of the next five points to end the set 25-14 and secure the weekend sweep.
The Huskies will hope to keep the momentum up as they face the College of Charleston Cougars (11-7, 5-3 CAA) at home Oct. 18 and 19 at 1 p.m. and noon, respectively.
