Box Score

BOSTON – Although the Northeastern women's volleyball team held a 23-4 Hofstra team to its fourth-lowest hitting percentage of the 2014 season (.169), it was the Pride that walked away with a 3-1 (25-23, 25-19, 17-25, 25-12) victory against the Huskies on Friday night at Cabot Center.
 
Sophomore Caterina Rosander registered a season-high nine blocks in the match, and helped NU become just the third team this year to tally 12.0 or more blocks against Hofstra. Taylor Reiter also stifled four attacks at the net for the Huskies.
 
Natalia Skiba put on another defensive clinic, leading the Northeastern backcourt with 33 digs. Skiba is now just 15 digs away from surpassing the 600-dig mark in a single season, and is looking to become the first player in program history to record multiple 600-dig campaigns.
 
Three-time CAA Rookie of the Week Brigitte Burcescu led the NU front line with 13 kills, while teammate Carmen Costa hit .333 and landed six kills as well. Megan Kehoe and Claire Manhard had eight and seven digs, respectively.
 
Northeastern (10-17, 2-11 CAA) returned to its early-season form as Jamie Bredahl and Kristen Walding shared setting responsibilities. Bredahl led the team in assists (14) for the first time since Sept. 9, while Walding earned 12 assists and sent over three kills.
 
With the win, Hofstra (24-4, 11-2 CAA) remains in a tie for first place in the CAA standings with College of Charleston. Kelsie Wills led the Pride with 15 kills and eight digs, while teammate Hannah Klemm added 45 assists to her now league-leading total of 1,082. Corrina Delgadillo recorded 27 digs in Hofstra's back row, while Klemm also netted 17 digs.
 
After a service error by the Pride's Kaitlyn Krause brought the Huskies to within one point in the first set at 4-3, Hofstra was quick to jump out to an 11-5 advantage thanks to a 7-2 scoring run. Burcescu and Rosander kept the Pride at bay with a block that brought the set score to 11-7, but Hofstra continued to execute offensively, and soon built an eight-point edge on Northeastern, leading 16-8.
 
Despite trailing 20-12, the Huskies sensed that they were down but not out, and began to find holes in the Pride's defense. Dizon brought NU to within four points after throwing down back-to-back kills, and a block by Rosander and Reiter capped what was a six-point scoring run for the Huskies. Following a brief three-point run that put Hofstra ahead 23-18, Northeastern scored five unanswered points to tie the set at 23-23, but surrendered the final two points and handed the opening frame to the Pride, 25-23.
 
Leading 6-5, Hofstra again caught the best of Northeastern with a four-point scoring run that put the Pride ahead by three, 9-6. A kill by Burcescu helped bring the Huskies back to within two points at 12-10, but three straight kills by Veronika Kostova and Nuria Lopes da Silva left NU head coach Ken Nichols calling for time, down 15-11.
 
Northeastern rallied after Costa drilled an attack down for a kill and connected with Walding on a block at the net to pull within two points again at 16-14, but the Pride held on to a four-point lead the rest of the way, en route to a 25-19 second set win.
 
Solid net play by the Huskies helped limit Hofstra's attacking chances in the third set, and a block by Walding and Costa helped give the Huskies their largest lead of the match at 5-2. After tying the set at 6-6, Bredahl found Dizon for a kill, and another block by Rosander four points later helped spark a five-point scoring run for Northeastern to go ahead 13-9.
 
Kostova interupted the NU run with a kill from Klemm, but the Huskies stayed the course, and another four-point run gave Northeastern an 18-11 lead. Hofstra would come as close as five points, but the Huskies held on to win the third set, 25-17, and bring the match to 2-1.
 
After hitting -.026 in the third set, Lopes da Silva began to light up the scoreboard for the Pride in the fourth set, as her three kills helped Hofstra break a 3-3 tie and take an 8-3 lead. Burcescu helped break up the streak with a kill from Walding at 8-4, but Wills, the CAA Preseason Player of the Year, joined Lopes da Silva, and kept the Pride in front throughout the fourth set. NU had only five kills and nine attacing errors in the fourth set, as Hofstra rolled to a 3-1 victory in the match.
 
Northeastern will host College of Charleston on Wednesday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. at Cabot Center.