Box Score

BRONX, N.Y. - The Northeastern women's volleyball team returned to winning form in the first match of the 2014 Rose Hill Classic held at Fordham University in the Bronx, New York, knocking off Rider 3-1 (25-20, 25-17, 22-25, 25-22) on Friday morning, Sept. 5.
 
Three Husky newcomers lit up the NU attacking game with double-digit kills, as Brigitte Burcescu, Cherylain Dizon, and Taylor Reiter powered home 11, 11, and 10 kills respectively. Reiter tacked on an impressive .571 hitting percentage to lead both teams in the match.
 
NU setters Jamie Bredahl and Kristen Walding combined for 35 of the Huskies' 42 assists. Bredahl has registered 20 or more assists in three out of four matches this season, while Walding has tabbed double-digit assists in each of her first four matches as a Husky.
 
Rider had difficulty landing attacks in for points around Northeastern libero Natalia Skiba, who grabbed a match-high 22 digs in the Husky back court. The Broncs' .071 team hitting percentage is also the lowest percentage NU has held an opponent to this season.
 
Jaclyn Webber led Rider in kills (17) and digs (16), while senior Ashlee Amatulli collected a team-high 18 assists along with 10 digs.
 
Northeastern made a strong opening statement from behind the service line when a pair of aces from Bredahl and Megan Kehoe gave the Huskies an early 3-2 advantage. NU would go on to break a 4-4 tie by scoring on six of the next eight points behind two kills a piece from Burcescu and Dizon, leaving Rider head coach Christopher Feliciano no option but to call timeout down 10-6.
 
After NU blanked on two straight attacks, the Broncs saw themselves within one at 10-9, but the Huskies would soon put together a four-point run as Bredahl found Burcescu and Ava Cramp for back-to-back kills, giving Northeastern a 15-10 lead.
 
Rider refused to go away in the first, and cut the Northeastern lead to one at 18-17 after scoring six out of eight points. But Bredahl and Dizon assured that the Huskies would prevail in the first, connecting on two straight attacks to give Northeastern a lead at 22-18, and ultimately helping secure seven of the last ten points in the game to award Northeastern a 25-20 win.
 
The Husky defense kept the pressure on the Broncs in the second game, as Northeastern scored six of the first nine points in the game all on Rider errors. Leading 9-7, Reiter would throw down two kills from Bredahl as part of a 7-3 run for the Huskies who took a commanding 16-10 lead in the set.
 
Up against the wall, Rider found its rhythm and sent home two kills by Kelsey Kowalski and Webber, and all of a sudden the Broncs were down two at 16-14. But Northeastern head coach Ken Nichols let his team play on, and NU responded with five straight points to claim a 21-14 edge. The Huskies closed out the second set with 12 kills in 25 attempts (.320), and with a 25-17 win took a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Northeastern appeared to have the match in the bag in the third game, opening the game on a 9-3 run that forced a Rider timeout. But the NU offense would go cold as Rider scored 11 of the next 14 points behind four kills by Webber to take a 14-12 lead.
 
Down 17-15, Burcescu and Bredahl brought the Huskies even with two kills to make it 17-17, but Rider compiled another three-point run to lead 20-7. The Broncs never surrendered the lead the rest of the way in the third, cruising to a 25-22 win and cutting the match to 2-1.
 
The Huskies pulled ahead in the early fourth with a 6-2 run, but Rider tied the game at 7-7 with two aces by Ackermann. Northeastern would take four of the next five points to lead 11-8, but Rider would score four straight to re-take control at 12-11.
 
But two kills by Reiter sparked an 8-2 run for the Huskies who took a 19-14 lead right back, and all but sealed the victory for Northeastern. The two teams would trade points the rest of the game, and Northeastern wrapped up the fourth 25-22 to top Rider 3-1.
 
Northeastern plays Fairleigh Dickinson at 4:30 p.m. Friday afternoon in its second game of the Rose Hill Classic.