Box Score

BOSTON – Despite tallying nine or more team blocks for the third match in a row, the Northeastern women's volleyball team suffered a 3-1 (18-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-21) defeat at the hands of William and Mary on Friday night.
 
Outside hitter Brigitte Burcescu earned her second straight double-double with 14 digs and 13 kills, while fellow freshman Taylor Reiter hit .333, landing seven kills on 15 attacks. Jamie Bredahl and Kristen Walding guided the NU offense with 20 and 16 assists, respectively.
 
Senior co-captain Natalia Skiba led the way for the Husky backcourt on Friday, finishing the match with 22 digs, and bringing her season total to 639 digs. Skiba already holds the Northeastern record for most digs in a single-season (684), and now is just seven digs away from owning each of the top two spots on the list.
 
Middle hitter Alexa Armstrong threw down seven kills against the Tribe, and had three blocks as well. Cherylain Dizon powered home six kills for the Huskies, while Caterina Rosander netted five kills and four blocks in the match.
 
Although Northeastern (10-19, 2-13 CAA) managed to hold William and Mary (7-23, 3-12 CAA) to a team hitting percentage of just .114, the Huskies had difficulty honing in its own attacking game, hitting for .101. Carolyn Albright registered five blocks at the net for the Tribe, while Dessi Koleva (17 digs, 12 kills) and Gabrielle Pe (15 digs, 15 kills) each recorded double-doubles on the night.
 
The Huskies pounced on William and Mary early in the first set, and built a 4-0 lead thanks to three unforced errors by the Tribe. Two straight kills by Rosander and Armstrong kept the Huskies in front, 6-1, and a block by Armstrong and Walding five points later put NU ahead, 8-4.
 
After misfiring on two straight attacks, Northeastern strung four consecutive points together to open a 12-6 edge, but William and Mary caught fire, and cut the NU lead to one at 14-13 with a 7-2 run midway through the first. Dizon helped end the Tribe's streak with a kill at 15-13, and the Huskies would tack on four blocks and three kills down the stretch to win the first set, 25-18.
 
A 4-2 lead by William and Mary was the largest either team experienced during the beginning of the second set, as the Huskies and Tribe remained stuck in a side-out war. After a kill by Cramp tied the set up at 10-10, William and Mary broke through with back-to-back kills by Mallory Brickerd, giving the Tribe a 13-10 lead.
 
Three unanswered points by Northeastern out of a Ken Nichols timeout helped level the set at 13-13, but William and Mary was quick to score six out of the next eight points, opening up a 19-15 advantage. NU would come as close as four, but the Tribe held on to the second set, 25-21, to level the match at 1-1.
 
An ace by Megan Kehoe and a kill by Burcescu scooted the Huskies in front, 9-7, during the early stages of the third set. Northeastern was able to mantain a three-point lead through the heart of the frame, until a three-point scoring run by William and Mary tied the set up at 17-17. The Tribe would throw four more unanswered points up on the scoreboard following an NU timeout to take a 21-17 lead, and held on to win the third set, 25-21.
 
Two kills by Burcescu helped give Northeastern a 3-2 lead in the fourth, but key attacking errors by the Huskies allowed William and Mary to retake command of the set. The Tribe shattered a 5-5 tie by scoring six out of the next eight points to lead 11-7, and rolled to a 17-10 lead thanks to another 6-3 scoring run. NU would claw its way back in the set, and found itself down three points at 18-15, and 22-19, but the lead proved insurmountable as William and Mary took a 25-21 fourth-set win, and a 3-1 victory in the match.
 
Northeastern will close out the regular season with a home match against James Madison on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 4 p.m. Prior to the match, the Huskies will honor the senior class of 2014 during Senior Day at Cabot Center.