Box Score

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Northeastern women's volleyball team had to go the distance on Saturday to steal a win from TCU, taking out the Horned Frogs 3-2 (20-25, 21-25, 25-19, 25-15, 15-12) in comeback fashion at the 2014 Shamrock Invtiational at Notre Dame. The victory is Northeastern's only win in the tournament, having previously been defeated by Northern Iowa on Friday, and host Notre Dame earlier on Saturday.
 
Northeastern (5-5) put on an offensive clinic throughout the match, as the Huskies' 19 attacking errors are the second-fewest they have recorded this season. NU cranked out three sets with team hitting percentages over .300, including the fourth set where the Huskies blasted 19 kills on 30 attacks with one error for a hitting percentage of .600.
 
Both Husky setters earned double-doubles in the five-set classic. Kristen Walding collected 56 of Northeastern's 68 assists along with 15 digs, while Jamie Bredahl had 18 digs, 15 kills, and two aces. Libero Natalia Skiba posted a match-high 30 digs.
 
Brigitte Burcescu led the Huskies with 21 kills, and was one of four Northeastern players to surpass the double-digit kill mark. Middle hitter Caterina Rosander hit for .348 with 10 kills and only two errors, blocking six TCU attacks for a total of 13.0 points in the match. Ava Cramp netted 10 kills on just three errors for a hitting percentage of .292, and also blocked four attacks.
 
Senior Alexa Armstrong nailed seven attacks in for kills without an error for a hitting percentage of .467, while Hannah Fry also grabbed four kills. Claire Manhard came up big for NU as well, knocking in two aces at clutch times.
 
Ashley Smith led TCU (6-4) with 16 kills and 11 digs, and Sarita Mikals also achieved a double-double with 14 digs and 10 kills. Alexia Heist and Trisha Langley split setting duties for the Horned Frogs, combining for 49 of the team's 54 assists.
 
Northeastern countered a 5-3 TCU run early in the first set by scoring three straight, and Cramp buried her third kill of the match three points later to tie the set at 7-7. The Horned Frogs were first to break the tie, winning four of the next five points to build an 11-8 edge.
 
Evenly matched, neither team was able to win consecutive points until Cramp and Rosander stifled an attack by TCU's Regan McGuire to take a bite out of the Frogs' lead, 18-17. However, the Huskies went cold defensively, as TCU scored five unanswered on three kills and an ace to lead 23-17, and five points later had closed out the set 25-20.
 
Northeastern's defensive struggles were evident in the beginning of the second set when TCU broke a 4-4 tie with five kills and three aces. The Frogs scored nine of the next ten points to run the score up to 13-5.
 
The Huskies did capitalize on four offensive miscues by TCU to cut the deficit to five at 16-11, but another three-point run for the Frogs gave them command of the second set at 19-11. Northeastern's attackers managed to string two separate three point runs together, as Walding set up Burcescu, Bredahl, and Rosander for three kills to bring the Huskies back to 21-17. NU would save three game points before McGuire sealed the second set for TCU.
 
Five unanswered points coming out of the intermission was exactly what head coach Ken Nichols needed if his team was going to make a comeback from 0-2 down. TCU though would soon wipe the lead off the board, pulling to within one at 8-7 and 10-9.
 
Northeastern grabbed four of the next five points, and back-to-back kills by Rosander bumped the Husky lead up to 16-12. Shortly after, NU would go on a five-point run to jump out 22-14, and the Huskies would stay in front to lock up the third set with a 25-19 win.
 
Trailing 6-4 in the fourth set, TCU threw down six kills in seven points to flip the score in favor of the Frogs, 10-7. However, Northeastern's attacking game caught fire, scoring four out of the next five points to tie the set at 11-11. The scoring onslaught was not over for the Huskies, who powered home eight more unanswered points, and won 18 of the last 23 points in the set to push TCU to a decisive fifth.
 
The Horned Frogs would strike first in the fifth set, scoring the first two points, but Northeastern responded, rattling off four of the next six points to tie the set at 4-4. With TCU leading 7-6, the Huskies pulled ahead 9-7 with three kills from Rosander, Walding, and Bredahl, forcing the Frogs to call timeout.
 
Holding onto a three point edge at 11-8, TCU stole back-to-back points and cut the gap to one at 11-10. But the Huskies had the finish line in sight and never looked back, scoring four of the last six points to win the fifth set 15-12.
 
Saturday's five-set thriller is Northeastern's second comeback win of the season when trailing 0-2. The Huskies surprised Florida International 3-2 earlier this season on Aug. 29, winning the final set 15-11.
 
Northeastern will head to Durham, New Hampshire on Tuesday, Sept. 16 to take on the New Hampshire Wildcats at 7 p.m. The Huskies will return to Cabot Center next weekend for two home matchups Friday and Saturday against Boston College and Harvard.