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BOSTON – Northeastern (5-6) was defeated in the first game of the 2018 New England Challenge by the visiting Harvard (4-4), 3-1 on Friday night.

Athena Ardila again received player of the game accolades for her 15 points, 14 kills and 42 attacks.
 
She was followed by Gabrielle Tschannen who tallied eight kills as a result of her 24 attacks to garner ten points for the Huskies.
 
Samantha Shupe and Natalie Shollin tabbed three blocks apiece while Gabrielle Eyl totaled 18 digs.
 
The Huskies met their match against The Crimson in the first set. Although the two teams kept it close with a couple impressively long rallies, Harvard pulled ahead toward the end to take set one, 25-18.
 
The Crimson started set two with fire, but the Huskies quickly shut down their momentum. __ kills by Ardila in the second set put NU ahead of their opponents early in the set. The two teams were tied at nine before the Huskies pulled ahead and never looked back. They won the equalizing set, 25-21.
 
Shollin took control of the points in the third set, making NU a competitive group against the Crimson. Neither team was able to run away with a lead, as they stayed neck-and-neck the entire third set. However, Harvard went ahead to win the set, 25-22 and put them up two sets to one.
 
The Howlin Huskies led for the majority of the fourth set before Harvard tied it at 15 all. From there, the Crimson were able to take a lead over NU, which they held until the end to win the set, 25-23, and win the match.
 
Up Next:
 
The Huskies return home on Saturday night for a matchup against Boston College (9-1) at 7 p.m. ET.