Box Score

Northeastern (8-3, 0-0 CAA) defeated Duke (8-1, 0-0 ACC) in the first set of the championship match at the Duke Classic tournament in Durham, N.C., on Saturday night, but the Blue Devils' firepower was too much for the Huskies in a 3-1 loss (25-21, 17-25, 24-26, 14-25) at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Junior outside hitter Kelly Bacon recorded her second double-double of the season with a 12 kill, 14 dig performance. Bacon's first double-double occurred against Sacred Heart on Aug. 25 (16 kills – 10 digs). Sophomore setter Jillian Briner also earned that distinction with 11 kills and 17 assists. Briner chipped in with seven digs on the evening.

Junior middle hitter Nichole Kurz was the other Husky with double-digit kills. Kurz logged 10 kills along with three block assists on the night. Sophomore libero Natalia Skiba's 22 digs were a team best and her three service aces were a match high. Third-year outside hitter Janelle Tucker finished with six kills, 11 digs and a block assist in the Duke contest.

One of the biggest differences on Saturday was the Blue Devils' accuracy. Duke hit .241 to Northeastern's .104 and notched 59 kills to NU's 46.

Northeastern only fell behind in the first set once, and that was at an early juncture, 3-2. After a back-and-forth set that saw seven ties, the Huskies pulled away in the end and captured a 25-21 first set triumph.

Briner got Northeastern off on the right foot with the first successful swat of the night pursued by a Skiba ace to give the Huskies a quick 2-0 lead. The Blue Devils quickly rattled off three points for their only lead of the first frame, 3-2, but the Huskies won five of the next six points to grab a 7-4 lead.

The Huskies held serve and battled through the first set with big offense from Briner up front. The Oak Park, Ill., native registered six kills in the first set and after NU stretched the score to 15-12, Duke hailed for a timeout.

Out of the break, Duke fired off another three-point spurt to knot it up, 15-15, but a 10-6 rally in favor of Northeastern closed out the first frame. Three of Briner's six slams came after Duke's timeout to boost NU to a first set win.

The second set was a battle in the early goings after the two squads clawed to a 7-7 count. Duke then pulled away with a five-point rally to take a 12-7 advantage. Kurz stopped the bleeding with a kill from Briner but the Blue Devils captured the next two points off of consecutive Huskies' attacking errors and never looked back. Duke used another long rally to push its pad to nine points, forcing the Huskies to call timeout with the scoreboard reading 19-10, Blue Devils. The Huskies outscored Duke down the stretch, 7-6, but the Blue Devils' lead was too big to overcome and Duke eventually won the second set, 25-17, after a wayward Kurz attack.

The third set had many peaks and valleys for the Huskies as the lead toggled back-and-forth throughout the frame. After a 4-2 Huskies' lead thanks to consecutive service aces from Skiba, Duke managed to button it back up at 5-5. Two Christiana Gray kills and a pair of senior Jasmine Marta attacking errors put the Blue Devils up, 9-5, but the Huskies mounted a huge seven-point rally to take a three-point lead, 12-9. Tucker and Kurz each swatted down two kills to give NU the mid-set momentum.

Duke called a timeout facing the deficit, but Northeastern's pressure nudged the lead out to four, 15-11, with three-straight kills from Kurz, Tucker and junior Ina Kamenova, respectively. After a Gray attacking error, the Blue Devils tied it up, 20-20, taking the next five of six volleys. Head coach Ken Nichols took a timeout with the third stanza deadlocked, but an Emily Sklar kill five serves later put Duke ahead by a point, 23-22. Briner landed a kill between the defense to put the pressure on Duke, 24-24, but Elizabeth Campbell and a Bacon error sealed NU's third set fate, 26-24.

Northeastern started off in a 4-0 hole to start the fourth set and could never crawl back into the game. Despite closing in at the beginning with two Kurz kills and a Duke error to make it 4-3, the Blue Devils attack was difficult to overcome.

The Blue Devils were ahead, 7-6, but Duke induced a couple Huskies' attacking errors and coupled that with a Sklar slam to grab control of the fourth set, 11-7. After a Bacon kill to make it 14-10, Duke rolled up a five-point rally to put the match out of reach. The Blue Devils eventually won after forcing Tucker into an error, 25-14.

After a six-game hiatus away from Solomon Court, Northeastern returns home to Boston to co-host the New England Classic on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 14-15. The Huskies take on Boston College at 7 p.m. on Friday followed by a doubleheader on Saturday against Harvard and Connecticut at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.