The women’s volleyball team has been on a tear lately, winning 10 of their last 11 games, and at the hub of the Huskies attack has been The Northeastern News Player of the Week, Kristin Ursillo.

The senior setter was pivotal to NU’s success at the Harvard Crimson Classic over the weekend, where the Huskies went 3-0 with victories over Long Island University, Dartmouth College and Harvard University.

Ursillo, a native of San Diego, Calif., dished out a total of 130 assists in the tourney, averaging 11.82 per game. She was named to the All-Tournament Team, along with teammate Jana Kubalova.

She was also tabbed America East Setter of the Week.

“The phrase we use to describe her is ‘heartbeat of the team,'” said head coach Ken Nichols. “She is like a quarterback out there, with great poise and leadership.”

Ursillo also tallied 19 kills in the tournament, playing a position that focuses on distributing shots rather than taking them.

“Kristin is definitely a significant attacker,” Nichols said. “She has a good leap, she sees the court well and can feed the hot hand.”

In a match last Wednesday against a tough UConn team, Ursillo was similarly effective, spreading out 44 assists to lead the team, as well as picking up two service aces and 13 digs, both second highest on the team.

The Huskies are a few weeks removed from a trip to the volleyball factory known as California, where they took on four of the top 25 teams in the nation. Ursillo’s tough scheduling helped the squad as they returned to the East.

“I think our experience in California was huge for us, we were playing at a level that you don’t see around here,” said Ursillo. “Coming back it seems like we can play with anyone.”

“Our goal this week is definitely to win the America East, I think we can also be one of the top five teams on the East Coast.”

Ursillo is gunning for her third straight America East Setter of the Year title, having taken the award home as both a sophomore and a junior (she played the opposite position as a freshman).

As a junior she was named America East Player of the Week once and Setter of the Week three times. She also broke Danyel Howard’s nine-year-old single season record for service aces, 62, finishing with 67.

Ursillo stood out as a sophomore as well, garnering All-Conference honors as well as and America East Tournament Most Outstanding Player. She also recorded her first career triple double (11 kills, 54 assists, 15 digs) in a crucial game against conference rival UNH.

As a high school player she often matched up against fellow SoCal native and current teammate Shannon Brooker less frequently with teammate Whitney Turner, a Northern California native.

Ursillo was named First Team All-American as a senior and was a part of the national championship beach doubles team in the 2000 Junior Olympics.