• 2012 Volleyball highlight video (GoNUxstream)

• Final stats

The Northeastern women's volleyball team completed its second-straight 20-win season in 2012, en route to a third-place regular season finish in the Colonial Athletic Association and sixth playoff appearance in the last seven years.

The Huskies (20-7, 9-3 CAA) were led offensively by CAA Player of the Year Kelly Bacon. The junior from Temecula, Calif., finished third in the conference in kills per set with 3.60 and her 346 total kills were a team high. In 18 of Northeastern's 27 games, Bacon anchored the team in kills, posting 10 or more in 21 different games.

Along with Bacon, senior captain Nicole Bishop was also named to the 2012 All-CAA First Team. The Park City, Utah, native led the Huskies with 86 blocks this season, including 22 solo blocks and 64 block assists. Bishop also was third on the team in kills with a career-high of 201, finishing her collegiate career with 592 kills and 310 total blocks in her four seasons on Huntington Ave.

A pair of sophomores also had standout seasons in 2012. Jill Briner set new career highs in kills (218), assists (547) and digs (204), while Natalia Skiba led the Huskies in digs with 530 on the year. Both Briner and Skiba were named to the 2012 All-CAA Third Team.

The Huskies opened the 2012 campaign on August 24 with a marathon five-set win over Alabama in the Beanpot Classic, on the heels of a Briner triple-double (10 kills, 30 assists, 12 digs). Junior Nichole Kurz also contributed 11 kills and 11 blocks in the win against a Crimson Tide team that went on to win its next 11 matches. The following day, Northeastern defeated Holy Cross, 3-0, and posted a 3-1 win over 2011 Northeast Conference Champion Sacred Heart. Skiba was named Beanpot Classic MVP, with 73 digs in three matches, and also took home CAA Defensive Player of the Week honors on August 27.

NU played its first road game on August 28, traveling to Durham, N.H., to take on New Hampshire. The Huskies made quick work of their hosts, winning 3-0, and pushed their record to 4-0. From there, Northeastern ventured out to Santa Barbara, Calif., for the UCSB Invitational, a tournament featuring UCSB, Idaho and UCLA.

The Huskies' first matchup in Santa Barbara came against defending national champions, UCLA, who were ranked third in the AVCA Division I Poll when the teams met on August 31. Despite 13 kills from Briner, 24 assists from junior Ina Kamenova and 20 digs from Skiba, the Bruins swept NU, 3-0. Northeastern faced off against host UCSB on Sept. 1, losing 3-0, despite finishing with more kills and digs in the match than the Gauchos. NU only lost the first two sets of the match by two, 26-24 and 25-23, and the Huskies had a set point in the first frame when they held a 24-22 lead.

Northeastern responded that day with a 3-1 triumph over Idaho. Bacon accumulated 17 kills and junior captain Janelle Tucker added 14 of her own in the win. Before coming back east, NU played its fourth match in three days with a non-conference tilt against Cal Poly on Sept. 2. The Huskies emerged 3-0 victors over the Mustangs in a neutral-site game held in Santa Barbara and improved their record to 6-2.

Over the weekend of Sept. 7-8, NU traveled to Durham, N.C., to participate in the Duke Classic. The tournament, held at Cameron Indoor Stadium, featured Duke, East Carolina and Elon. Northeastern opened with a 3-0 sweep over ECU, led by Bishop's 13 kills and four block assists. The following day, the Huskies recorded their fourth-straight win and third-straight sweep by dispatching Elon, 3-0. Hours later, Northeastern's winning streak was snapped by Duke in a 3-1 setback. Three Huskies finished with double-digit kills, led by Bacon's 12, in front of the largest crowd (2,715) Northeastern volleyball would play in front of all season.

Following the Duke Classic, the Huskies returned home to host the New England Classic at Solomon Court. First up was cross-city rival Boston College on Sept. 14, whom NU was able to defeat 3-1 behind 21 kills from Bacon. In the next day's doubleheader, Northeastern swept both Harvard and Connecticut to close out its nonconference slate at 11-3, while winning its second tournament of the season. Bacon was given MVP honors, while Bishop and Kurz were both named to the New England Classic All-Tournament Team.

Northeastern headed into its CAA slate having been selected as the preseason favorites to take home the conference title. To kick off the conference schedule, NU welcomed Hofstra (12-6) to Solomon Court on Sept. 22 for the first of five straight home conference matches. Briner posted yet another double-double in a 3-1 win, notching 14 kills and 19 assists, while Bacon led all players with 17 kills against only three errors.

UNCW was the next opponent for the Huskies on Sept. 28, and despite dropping a hard-fought second set, Northeastern defeated the Seahawks, 3-1. Five players – Bacon, Tucker, Briner, Bishop and Kurz – finished with double-digit kills, and NU did not trail in the fourth set to close out the win. After improving to 13-0 all-time against UNCW, the Huskies then hosted William & Mary on Sept. 30. The Tribe proved no match for Northeastern's defense, as four players posted ten or more digs, led by Skiba with 23.

George Mason made the trek to Boston on Oct. 5, looking to improve on its 3-12 record. Despite the distance between the two teams in the conference standings, the Patriots lost three sets by just a combined seven points, as the Huskies won 3-0. To close out the eight-game homestand, Northeastern welcomed James Madison on Oct. 7. Both JMU and NU played lackluster defense in a 3-0 sweep for the Huskies. Northeastern logged a team hitting percentage of .424, making just seven attacking errors in the whole match, while the Dukes hit .315 in a losing effort.

Six of Northeastern's final seven games were played away from the friendly confines of Solomon Court, where the Huskies finished with an unblemished 11-0 record. On Oct. 13, NU traveled to Hempstead, N.Y., to face Hofstra for the second time in 2012. Tucker posted 11 kills to lead the Huskies to a 3-0 victory over the Pride, which improved Northeastern's record to 17-3, including a 6-0 mark in the CAA.

On Oct. 19, the Huskies suffered their first setback in conference play, dropping a five-set decision at Delaware. In the loss to the Blue Hens, Briner recorded another triple-double, with 13 kills, 22 assists and 12 digs, while Bacon had 20 kills and 18 digs. Two days later, Northeastern lost three close sets by a combined 10 points at Towson, despite 13 kills by Bacon.

Both Bishop and classmate Jasmine Marta were honored on Senior Day on Oct. 26, before the Huskies faced Georgia State at Solomon Court. Bishop ended her collegiate career with 337 sets played, 592 kills and 310 total blocks. Marta would finish with 114 sets played, 162 kills and 30 total blocks during her two seasons at NU. On Senior Day, Marta recorded nine kills, while Bishop tallied seven kills and four total blocks in a 3-0 Northeastern win.

The Huskies closed out their regular season with three straight road games in the state of Virginia. The first of those three came at William & Mary on Nov. 2, where Northeastern jumped out to a 2-0 lead after winning the first two sets by a combined 20 points. The Tribe battled back to take the third and fourth sets, but NU won the final set, 15-13, to escape with a 3-2 win that put the Huskies at 19-5 and 8-2 in the CAA.

On Nov. 9, Northeastern met JMU for the second time on the season. Even though the Huskies won the matchup in Boston, the Dukes cruised to a 3-0 win. Bacon notched another double-double in the loss, with 11 kills and 15 digs. NU rallied the next day to end the regular season on a positive note, sweeping George Mason and limiting the Patriots to under 20 points a set. Briner had 20 assists and 13 digs in the win, while Bacon accumulated 16 kills, nine digs and three service aces.

NU headed into the CAA Tournament as the third seed for the second time in program history, with a 20-6 mark overall and a 9-3 CAA record. This set up a third meeting between Northeastern and the sixth-seeded Dukes. With Tucker missing the game due to injury, junior transfer Hanna Gibeau made her presence felt with 22 kills after having 37 total in the regular season. The Huskies were on the brink of victory but ultimately bowed out to a strong JMU resurgence down the stretch, 3-2.

On the heels of another successful season, Bacon was credited with two significant honors and were firsts in Northeastern's program history.

On Dec. 5, Bacon earned a spot on the 2012 Division I American Volleyball Coaches Association All-East Region Team. The following week on Dec. 12, the Temecula, Calif., native was named to the 2012 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Honorable Mention All-America team and uniquely, the only member from a CAA school.

Now completed 13 seasons as head coach at Northeastern, Ken Nichols notched his 12th winning season, including his seventh-straight. Nichols completed his sixth 20-win season at NU, including his second back-to-back 20-win season campaigns.


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