Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. – The Northeastern women's volleyball team notched its fifth sweep of the season when it defeated James Madison in straight sets, 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 27-25) on Sunday afternoon in Harrisonburg, Va. With the shutout, the Huskies improve to 15-9 on the season and 7-3 in conference play.

Senior Kelly Bacon led the Huskies during the contest with 10 kills and 11 digs on the night. Rookie Jamie Bredahl added a well-rounded performance, throwing down nine kills and contributing 10 digs and 20 assists. Senior Hanna Gibeau tallied nine attacks, while classmate Nichole Kurz and right side Ava Cramp notched nine and eight, respectively.

Libero Natalia Skiba manned Northeastern's backcourt with a match-best 26 digs and added three assists. Fourth-year setter Ina Kamenova threw up 26 assists and recorded a kill and five digs.

The Huskies opened up the contest with five kills in the first 10 exchanges to take an early 8-2 lead. James Madison used a 9-1 run to push ahead of the Red and Black, 11-8, but NU tied it up, 11-11. Neither team budged as the score evened seven times throughout the frame, but Northeastern broke away after Bacon and Cramp teamed up for a couple of swings to regain the lead, 20-18.

JMU did not relinquish as they fought back to knot up the score two more times at the 21 and 22 marks. Two consecutive attacks from Cramp and Gibeau brought the Huskies to set point and forced the Dukes to hail a timeout, trailing 24-22. A Gibeau error kept James Madison alive, 24-23, but an attack down the middle from Kurz closed out the first set for Northeastern, 25-23.

In the second set, Northeastern jumped out to an early 10-4 lead, but a 10-4 run from JMU slowed down the Huskies' attack and evened the set at 14. NU and James Madison battled back-and-forth but Northeastern regained momentum to take over 19-16 after landing three consecutive kills. The Dukes tried to power through, throwing a kill of their own, but the Huskies, once again, tossed down a trio of kills to prompt a James Madison timeout, 22-17. 

JMU came within three after two attacks bookended an NU error, but it was not enough to stop the Huskies from taking the second set, 25-20.

Looking for the sweep, the Huskies came out in the eliminating stanza with a quick 6-3 advantage. Like the second set, the Dukes came storming back to knot it up, 9-9, after a strong offensive performance from Katie Whitmire. Bacon and Bredahl laid down four kills, collectively, to give Northeastern an 18-14 cushion. 

In an attempt to stay alive, the Dukes tied the Huskies once again, 18-18, capped by an ace from Sarah Patterson. JMU and NU exchanged points down the stretch, but three errors from James Madison allowed Northeastern to shut out the match, 3-0, with a 27-25 third-set victory.

Northeastern looks to close out its final road swing with two matches next weekend. The Huskies will head to Wilmington, N.C., on Friday, Nov. 8, to take on UNCW before traveling to Charleston, S.C., to face conference front runner College of Charleston on Sunday, Nov. 10.

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