Box Score

BOSTON – Even with ten different players recording a kill in the match, the Northeastern women's volleyball team ran into a talented attacking squad in UNCW, and was defeated by the Seahawks, 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-13), on Sunday afternoon.
 
Freshmen setter Kristen Walding led NU with 19 assists, and picked up five digs and two kills in the contest. Natalia Skiba and Ashlee Asada were faced the task of stopping UNCW's aggressive offense, and posted 11 and eight digs, respectively. Both players also tagged two assists in the match.
 
As a team, the Seahawks hit for .341 compared to Northeastern's percentage of .050, and outblocked the Huskies 12.0-3.0.
 
Brigitte Burcescu netted six kills on the afternoon, while Alexa Armstrong finished the match with five kills of her own. First-year middle blocker Taylor Reiter hit for .222 with four kills coming on nine attacks, and picked up the Huskies' lone solo block.
 
UNCW (16-8, 6-4 CAA) earned its sixth win in the conference this season with the help of 11 digs and 10 kills by senior outside hitter Morgan Kline. Meredith Peacock added eight more blocks to her already league-leading total, and hit for .583 with eight kills on 12 attacks.
 
Northeastern (10-14, 2-8 CAA) managed to keep the Seahawks at bay early in the first set, and built a 3-1 lead off three kills by Burcescu, Ava Cramp, and Armstrong. After another kill by Armstrong put the Huskies up 5-4, UNCW responded with a four-point run capped with a block by Peacock and teammate Leah Gagliardi to go up 8-5.
 
NU cut the lead to one at 10-9 with a block by Cramp and Caterina Rosander, and a Seahawk service error two points later kept the Huskies in the set, down just 11-10. However, UNCW scored four out of the next five points to take a 15-11 advantage, and a block by Peacock and Gagliardi again at 17-13 caused Northeastern head coach Ken Nichols to call his first timeout of the set.
 
Refocused after the timeout, the Huskies won three out of the next four points with the help of two UNCW service errors and a kill by Walding, trailing by two at 19-17. The Seahawks would go ahead by four with an ace by Alyssa Desjardins, but NU came within two points again at 22-20 off a kill by Armstrong before UNCW scored the final three points of the set to win it 25-20.
 
Like in the first set, the Huskies again won the first two points of the second set, but surrendered five out of the next six points as UNCW pulled in front 5-3. The Seahawks' front row continued to put the pressure on Northeastern, and threw down four kills in six points to take an 11-6 advantage.
 
The Huskies contained UNCW by trading points throughout the middle of the set, but the Seahawks scored five unanswered points late in the second en route to a 25-15 win.
 
Seven of the first eight points in the third set landed UNCW's way, and a block by Peacock and Kline made the score 9-2. Asada helped bring the Huskies back within six after dialing up an ace and assisting Walding on a kill, but UNCW continued to control the blocking game, and blocked two straight attacks to go up 16-6. Northeastern came within eight points at 19-11, but the Seahawks controlled the tempo the rest of the match, and won the third set 25-13.
 
Northeastern will make its final road trip of the season when it heads to Towson on Thursday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m., and travels to Delaware on Sunday, Nov. 2 at 1 p.m. The Huskies will then return to Cabot Center to close out the regular season with four straight home matches.