Box Score

BRONX, N.Y. – The Northeastern women's volleyball team ran the table this weekend at the 2014 Rose Hill Classic in the Bronx, New York, going a perfect 3-0 in tournament play after topping Fordham on Saturday, Sept. 6 in straight sets (25-15, 25-19, 27-25). The Huskies were the only squad in the four-team tournament to not drop a match, having defeated Rider and Fairleigh Dickinson on Friday.
 
Brigitte Burcescu led the way for the NU offense, as the freshman outside hitter landed 12 of her 25 attacks in for kills. Jamie Bredahl and Kristen Walding combined for all but two of the Huskies' 31 assists in the match, while Bredahl nabbed seven digs to go along with three kills.
 
Northeastern's front row did their fair share of blocking against Fordham, as middle hitters Caterina Rosander and Alexa Armstrong were credited with six and five blocks respectively.
 
Senior libero Natalia Skiba led the Northeastern defense with 12 digs, while sophomore Ashlee Asada also grabbed five digs and three aces.
 
Fordham (0-6) hit just .040 with 30 kills and 26 errors coming off 100 attacks, and struggled to stop the aggressive Northeastern attackers. Brianna O'Neil achieved a double-double for the Rams with 10 kills, 10 digs, and a hitting percentage of .348, while junior setter Abigail Konovodoff tallied 26 assists.
 
Northeastern (4-2) raced out to an early 4-0 lead on the Rams in the first game after Rosander threw down two kills and Bredahl dialed up an ace. The two sides would alternate points until NU led the game 9-6, when the Huskies defense forced Fordham to commit six errors in seven straight points, providing Northeastern with a 16-7 advantage.
 
The offensive woes would not end for Fordham in the first, as two more attacking errors put NU in the driver's seat up 20-11. A block by Rosander and Ava Cramp sealed what was an incredible defensive set for the Huskies, who scored 25 points on just 10 kills and 11 Fordham errors.
 
Seven out of the first 10 points of the second game fell Northeastern's way as Bredahl found Burcescu for two kills while Skiba and Walding each hammered in an ace. Attacking miscues proved to be detrimental to Fordham's game plan, falling on the short end of a 13-4 Husky run in the second. Up 17-11, Northeastern scored five out of the next six points to take a double-digit lead, and despite letting the Rams come as close as five, held on to a 25-19 win.
 
Having built a 2-0 lead in each of their three matches at the Rose Hill Classic, the Huskies looked to do something they had not managed to do in the tournament: win in straight sets. Determined to finish the match in three games, Northeastern stormed out with seven unanswered after dropping the first point, and appeared to be in total control.
 
But the Rams responded with a 6-1 run of their own to trail only 8-7 after Burcescu had three consecutive attacks blocked by the Fordham line. NU opened a three point edge at 12-9, but two straight attacking errors brought the Rams back to within one.
 
Northeastern would lead at 16-13 and 18-15 before orchestrating a three-point run that made it 21-17, but Fordham lucked out after two attack errors by Bredahl fueled a 4-1 run to trail 22-21. Dizon and Rosander helped bring the Huskies to match point at 24-21, but the Rams rattled off three in a row to keep their hopes alive. After a service error by Asada leveled the match again at 25-25, Burcescu would land back-to-back kills from Bredahl and Skiba to give the Huskies their first straight-set win of the season.
 
Skiba, Bredahl, and Burcescu were all named to the 2014 Rose Hill Classic All-Tournament Team, while Skiba also earned the tournament's Most Valuable Player award.
 
Northeastern will return to the Cabot Center on Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 7 p.m. to take on Rhode Island in the Huskies' home opener.