The Northeastern volleyball team (7-10, 3-5 CAA) lost in four sets to the College of Charleston Cougars (13-7, 7-3 CAA) in both matchups at home Oct. 18 and 19.
Graduate student outside hitter Svenja Rodenbüsch led the team in kills with 14, freshman setter Sofia King led in assists with 24, and senior libero Nadia Koanui led in digs with 19. Despite Northeastern beating Charleston in nearly every stat category: points, kills, aces and assists, the Huskies fell short.
The Huskies were dominant in the first set, taking it from the Cougars 25-11. The set was close in the beginning, with Charleston taking an 8-7 lead before Northeastern went on an impressive 10-point run to lead 17-8.
A service error by sophomore outside hitter Brynn Smith put the Cougars back behind the service line, but not for long. Back-to-back kills by Smith and sophomore middle blocker Zehra Yilmaz increased the Huskies’ lead to 19-9. Both teams exchanged kills before Charleston secured its last point of the set, trailing 20-11. Three kills and two blocks ended the set in a 25-11 win for Northeastern.
The second set started similarly, with both teams staying close until, with Charleston leading 13-12, the Cougars took seven of the next nine points. The Huskies answered by taking four of the next five points off kills to cut Charleston’s lead to 21-18. Two kills and an attack error by Rodenbüsch brought Charleston to set point. In an attempt at redemption, Rodenbüsch notched a kill to keep the Huskies alive, but another kill by Charleston sealed the set, 25-20.
The third set was neck-and-neck with neither team leading by more than three points until the very end. Koanui notched two aces in the set, and 13 of the Huskies’ points were off kills, with freshman setter and opposite hitter Emma Rowell and Rodenbüsch notching four kills each. With Northeastern trailing 22-21, the Cougars went on a three-point kill streak to take the set 25-21.
Northeastern’s worst showing of the weekend was in the fourth set when the team fell to Charleston 25-15.
The set was close in the beginning until, with the score 13-11, the Huskies’ chances began to slip away. Two consecutive errors by Rowell and junior middle blocker Beatrice Gennari and a block for Charleston brought the score to 16-11. Despite the Huskies taking three of the next four points, the Cougars took eight of the last nine to end the set 25-15.
With dance battles, long volleys and dominating kills, Sunday’s matchup was nothing short of exciting.
The Huskies were also defeated in four sets by the Cougars during the Breaking Barriers game Sunday, which is dedicated to celebrating diversity in sports. Despite winning the first set 25-18, the Huskies fell to the Cougars 25-22, 25-19 and 25-20 in the second, third and fourth sets, respectively.
Rodenbüsch continued her weekend dominance with a season-high 17 kills. Yilmaz had a career-high seven blocks. King led the team in assists with 21, and Koanui led in digs with 27.
A kill by Smith kicked off Northeastern’s fourth home game of the season, and the Huskies seemed to be rolling. The team took nine of the first 12 points before Charleston used its first time out. Northeastern was full of smiles as the Cougars stepped back onto the court, full of stoic expressions.
While Charleston got the first point out of the timeout off a kill from freshman middle blocker Caroline Noonan, who was named CAA Rookie of the Week in Week 3 and CAA Offensive Player of the Week in Week 5, the Huskies fired off four straight points, including two off bad spikes by the same Charleston player, to lead 13-4. As a result of the fundamental mistakes, Charleston used its last timeout of the set with plenty more to go.
The timeout proved to be somewhat successful as the Cougars crawled their way back to a close score. Charleston took five of the next six points to cut the Huskies’ lead to 14-9. However, a kill for Smith brought the energy right back up and initiated a three-point streak for the Huskies to increase their lead to 17-9.
As Charleston took two points, a powerful kill straight down on its side and an ace by Gennari maintained the lead and kept Northeastern up 19-11.
Both teams exchanged points before a kill by Northeastern, originally awarded as a Charleston point, was challenged successfully by head coach Brendan McGourn. Once again, the teams added two points each before three consecutive points for Charleston forced Northeastern to take a timeout as it led 23-17. Both teams exchanged points before a kill by redshirt freshman outside hitter Valentina Meirelles ended the set in a victory for the Huskies, 25-18, and put the Huskies up one set to none.
Just as with the first set, scoring opened up with a kill by Smith to put the Huskies up 1-0. The teams went back and forth before Charleston got its first lead of the game, 3-2.
After a block by Meirelles and Yilmaz cut Charleston’s lead to 7-6, the Cougars began to gain momentum, scoring three consecutive points to lead 10-6. Both teams struggled to get a strong scoring streak going, and the teams went into a media timeout with Charleston leading 15-12.
Despite Northeastern taking the first point, the media timeout seemed to be just what the Cougars needed — they took four of the next five points to lead 19-14. After Northeastern got a point off a bad hit by Charleston, a long, thrilling volley ended in a point for Charleston off a kill for Noonan. Northeastern then used a timeout to get back on track and try to stop Charleston from moving quicker.
While Charleston got a kill, a kill by Rowell, back-to-back kills for Rodenbüsch and an ace for sophomore setter Arina Sosinovica cut Charleston’s lead to 21-19 and forced the Cougars to use a timeout.
Back-to-back kills for the Huskies tied the set at 21 before Charleston used its final timeout. Despite both teams exchanging kills, the Cougars notched three straight points to take the set 25-22.
In the third set, Charleston jumped out early, going up 2-0. Despite Northeastern tying it at 3-3, the Cougars got the edge, increasing their lead to 5-3. A kill by Rowell bounced on Charleston’s side of the court and smashed into the scorer’s table, showing the strength and dominance of the freshman.
On the next point, before the ball was even served, an attack error on Rodenbüsch led to a Northeastern challenge. During the challenge, the energy in Cabot Center reached a game-high as both team’s benches started a dance battle against each other. With both teams’ members doing the worm before diving into their teammates’ arms, the Cabot fans couldn’t get enough.
Whether it was the dancing, the excited fans or a pure hunger to win that raised the competitiveness, a kill spree began. The next 10 points were scored off kills, bringing Charleston’s lead to 11-9. The teams went back-and-forth before a media timeout with the score 15-12 Charleston.
The media timeout seemed to be a helpful reset for the Huskies as they took four of the next five points to tie the set at 16, the first time the set had been tied since the score was 2-2 in the set’s beginning.
Feeling their lead slipping away, the Cougars locked in, taking eight of the next 10 points to bring it to set point. While a kill from Rodenbüsch kept the Huskies alive momentarily, a response kill for Charleston ended the set 25-19.
The fourth set was do or die for the Huskies, and they jumped out to a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately, two consecutive kills for Charleston, including one after an intense volley near the net, put the Cougars ahead 3-2.
The set remained within two until — as the Cougars led 11-10 — Charleston took eight of the next 10 points to increase its lead to 19-12, even with a media timeout when the score was 15-11 Charleston.
At 19-12, the Cougars were only six points away from handing Northeastern another loss at home. The Huskies used a timeout in an attempt to find a way to stay alive.
Out of the timeout, the set opened up with a kill by Rodenbüsch, but back-to-back kills for the Cougars increased the lead to 21-13. Both teams went point-for-point until, at set point for Charleston, Northeastern earned three consecutive points off kills by Rowell and Rodenbüsch, and a block by Yilmaz and Rowell that then forced Charleston to use a timeout.
An error by Charleston kept the Huskies’ hopes alive momentarily, but a block ended the set in a 25-20 loss for Northeastern and cost the game in four sets.
Much of Charleston’s success over Northeastern came from winning the long volleys that were frequent in this matchup.
Despite going 8-3 last year at home and 1-11 on the road, this season the Huskies have struggled at Cabot, losing all four games they’ve played on their own court. The Huskies are also missing key players in junior captain and middle blocker Kaylin Daniels, who played in the Huskies’ first 10 games, and freshman opposite hitter Elle Lucas, who played in the Huskies’ first 13 games before being absent for the last four.
In many of Northeastern’s games, the team fights hard but falls short. With eight games remaining, four of which are at home, the Huskies need to get back on track soon to have a chance at the CAA tournament.
The Huskies are back in action against the William & Mary Tribe (6-13, 1-7 CAA) Oct. 24 at 5 p.m. on the road.
