BOSTON – After a tightly-contested five-set win against William & Mary on Friday, the Huskies looked to create more opportunities to attack and complete the weekend sweep on Saturday.
They did just so, winning in dominant fashion three sets to none against the Tribe to improve their record to 5-1 in conference play. The Huskies’ efficiency on the attacking side allowed them to capitalize on their opportunities, posting their highest hitting percentage of the season so far at .324.
“We just made a decision today to come in and do some very specific things, and it was wonderful to see everybody execute on those things,” said Northeastern Head Coach Lenika Vazquez. “Our team executed at a very high level.”
It took a little bit of time for Northeastern to find their rhythm, going down early 13-7 in the first set. The ferocity and aggression was on the side of the Tribe in the first minutes, causing the Huskies to commit four errors which prompted Vazquez to call a timeout to try and halt the Tribe’s momentum.
A brief talk and moment for the Huskies to catch their breath on the sidelines proved to be all they needed. After the timeout, the Huskies went on a 7-0 run, powered by four aces from junior Nadia Koanui.
“We were playing a little tight,” Vazquez said on why she took that first timeout. “The things [William & Mary] were doing were working in their favor.”
Knowing there was plenty of game left, the Huskies rallied with the Tribe until William & Mary were a point away from stealing the first set, 24-23. But one kill each from graduate students Georgia Stavrinides and Millie Loehr, followed by a block by sophomore Beatrice Gennari, sealed the set for Northeastern, 26-24.
The second set started with a quick two points by the Tribe, but powerful serves from Koanui helped produce kills for Huskies and regain their momentum, going on a 6-0 run.
The teams were tied nine seperate times in the first set, but the second set was much more one-sided, as Northeastern ran away 25-11, now needing only one more set win to claim victory.
The Huskies’ energy was present the whole game, forcing the Tribe to keep up with their pace. It hadn’t fizzled out as the Huskies took a 5-0 lead to start the third set.
The Tribe had used their final timeout of the set when Northeastern went up 16-10 after making a handful of errors. It was enough to slow down the Huskies for just a little bit, who committed two back-to-back errors themselves as the teams resumed play. The Tribe would then go on a 6-0 run, only down three points with the score 21-18.
But the Huskies kept fighting, and with the help of a kill from Stavrinides and freshman Brynn Smith, Northeastern took the final set 25-19, winning the match.
The Huskies attacking was strong, with Smith leading the team for the second-straight game with 13 kills and Koanui contributing to six of the team’s seven service aces.
But their defense was particularly impactful from start to finish. The Huskies out-blocked the Tribe 12-2 and led in digs, with Koanui notching a team-high 18.
“[The team] was locked in,” said Vazquez. “They were very focused on what we wanted to accomplish, and they were not going to settle for anything less.”