BOSTON - Bragging rights are up for contention in the city of Boston this weekend as the Northeastern women's volleyball team hosts Boston College and Harvard in two of the three matches of the 2014 New England Challenge. The Huskies invite the Eagles of BC into Cabot Center on Friday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m., and will battle their crosstown rivals from Cambridge at home on Saturday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. Harvard will also host Boston College on Sunday, Sept. 21 at 2 p.m. to determine which program owns the volleyball court in Beantown.

Friday night's match against Boston College is also '90s Night at Cabot Center. Tickets to all Northeastern home volleyball matches are free.

All students are encouraged to wear red or their Husky Nation t-shirt as Northeastern tries to red-out the stands and break last year's match attendance record.
 
Throughout the night, fans can enjoy listening to '90s music, enjoy '90s snacks, and rally behind the NU Pep Band as the Huskies look to win their first home match of the season.
 
Fans who attend the match on Friday will have the chance to win various '90s-themed prizes throughout the night, and can pick up a raffle ticket upon entering to be eligible for a Razor Scooter and a Nintendo 64 that will be awarded after the first and second sets.
 
There will also be a student-athlete barbeque held between 5-7 p.m. before the match.

All-time against Boston College

The Huskies and Eagles are familiar foes, having met 25 times since the 1990 season with Northeastern leading the all-time series, 15-10. NU has won three consecutive matches against Boston College including a 3-1 victory over the Eagles last season on Sept. 20.

Eagles 2013 season recap

Boston College performed well against its non-conference opponents in 2013, stringing together six straight wins at the 2013 BC Invitational and a tournament at Columbia on back-to-back weekends last year. The Eagles' 9-23 (1-19 ACC) record landed them in the bottom half of the ACC, but sophomore outside hitter Katty Workman sported strong offensive numbers for BC, leading the team with 438 kills while also grabbing 349 digs.

Boston College in 2014

The Eagles head to Cabot Center on Friday night with a 5-4 record after winning two out of three matches in a tournament at Long Island University last weekend. Boston College opened the season with two straight wins against Holy Cross and Hartford at the 2014 BC Invitational, and took No. 18 Minnesota to five sets on Sept. 6 in a tournament at Yale. BC looks to pick up its first win in the New England Classic since topping Harvard 3-0 on Sept. 15, 2012.
 
Scouting the Eagles

Senior Kellie Barnum has a knack for finding her fellow attackers, leading the team with 324 assists at 8.76 per set. Junior Katty Workman does the bulk of the attacking for Boston College with 132 kills (3.57 per set), but teammates Julia Topor and Sol Calvete are second and third on the team, respectively, each with 80 or more kills. BC poses several defensive threats as well, averaging 14.97 digs per set as a team, a mark that is third best in the ACC this season.

All-time against Harvard

Northeastern's 26-4 all-time series record against Harvard is one of the best win-loss records against any opponent NU has played in program history. The Huskies have won seven straight matches against the Crimson, and are four more wins away from tying the 11-match winning streak they held over Harvard from 1981 to 1991.

Crimson 2013 season recap

Harvard's 14-9 (9-5 Ivy League) season was the second strongest in the conference last year. The Crimson were the only team in 2013 to knock off conference champion Yale during league play, winning a close match 3-2 at home. Five attackers had kill totals of 140 or more for Harvard at the end of the year, including sophomore outside hitter Kathleen Wallace who threw down 217 kills at 2.58 per set. Freshman setter Corinne Bain was a serving specialist during her rookie season, leading the team with an impressive 50 aces during the 2013 campaign. 

Harvard in 2014

The Crimson have won four out of their first six matches of the 2014 season for a 4-2 overall record. Harvard was tripped up at its home tournament by CAA member Delaware 3-0, but bounced back last weekend with two wins at the Benson Hospitality Invitational at Georgia, including a 3-1 win over the host Bulldogs. 
 
Scouting the Crimson

Harvard's offense has been difficult for opponents to stop this season, as the team ranks 42nd in the nation in kills per set (13.86) and 39th in the nation in both assists per set (13.00) and aces per set (1.68). Caroline Holte has a season hitting percentage of .366 with 49 kills, 12 errors, and 101 attacks. The junior middle blocker has also accumulated a team-high 20 blocks as a member of the Crimson front row. Sophomore Corinne Bain and junior Hannah Schmidt do the bulk of the setting for Harvard, combining for 253 of the team's 286 assists in 2014.

The Huskies' all-time dig leader

Natalia Skiba made Northeastern history last Friday against Northern Iowa when she recorded her 1,889th career dig, making her the Huskies' all-time dig leader. Skiba surpassed Kira Batura's total of 1,888 career digs, and her current total of 1,970 is just 30 shy of breaking the 2,000-dig milestone. The senior libero from Westmont, Illinois has earned two All-Tournament Team selections this season, and was the MVP of the 2014 Rose Hill Classic at Fordham.

Corvias ECAC Rookie of the Week

Freshman outside hitter Brigitte Burcescu was named Corvias ECAC Rookie of the Week for collecting 73 kills and hitting .305 overall during four matches last week. She was honored alongside No. 3 Penn State's Micha Hancock and Liberty's Gabrielle Shipe. Burcescu was also named CAA Rookie of the Week for the second straight week in the conference, and had a career-best 25 kills and .420 match hitting percentage against Rhode Island.

New setter in town

Freshman setter Kristen Walding notched a career-best 56 assists in last Saturday's match against TCU. Walding eclipsed the 40-assist mark again in her second straight outing with 41 against New Hampshire on Tuesday, giving her a two-match total of 97 assists. 

Doubling up

Sophomore Jamie Bredahl has achieved a double-double in seven matches so far during the 2014 campaign. Bredahl's all-around play has also netted her two triple-doubles on the season, most recently against Rhode Island when she posted 27 assists, 21 digs, and 10 kills.

Perfection in New England

Since 2010, head coach Ken Nichols has coached the Huskies to a perfect 8-0 record against New England Challenge opponents Boston College, Harvard, and Connecticut. Six of those eight wins have been at Cabot Center. 

Going the distance
 
Saturday's come-from-behind victory against TCU was the second time this season that the Huskies have rallied back to win from 0-2 down. NU completed its first five-set comeback trailing by two sets earlier this year against Florida International on Aug. 29, winning the fifth set in dramatic fashion, 15-11. On Saturday, the Huskies filled the stat sheet as a team with 83 digs, 70 kills, and 68 assists en route to a 15-12 fifth set win against the Horned Frogs.