NEWARK, Del. –
Nailah Jenkins finished with seven kills and six blocks while
Evelyn Gonzalez matched seven kills with seven digs as the Northeastern women's volleyball team returned to winning form on Sunday, defeating Delaware in straight sets at the Bob Carpenter Center (25-16, 25-17, 25-23).
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Athena Ardila landed 12 kills on 24 attacks to lead the Huskies, who combined to swing .299 against the Blue Hens' .161 hitting clip.
Natalie Shollin contributed eight kills to the NU cause while senior libero
Clare Lund charted 12 digs and three service aces.
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Northeastern (10-10, 4-4 CAA) outperformed Delaware (11-8, 3-5 CAA) in every statistical category, playing to the 43-31 edge in total kills, 7-5 margin in aces and 7-6 advantage in blocks among others.
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The Huskies trailed by as many as four points during the first set (8-4) before compiling a 13-4 scoring run that sent NU on its winning course.
Samantha Shupe set each of Northeastern's 13 first-set kills – five of which belonged to Ardila.
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Strong serving set the Huskies apart from the Blue Hens during the second set. Lund dialed up back-to-back aces to put Northeastern in front, 12-8, while clean attacking at the pins helped NU stake the two-set lead.
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Delaware battled back during the third set, which witnessed 15 tied scores. Jenkins and Shupe united on the block assist that gave Northeastern the 21-20 lead shortly before Ardila delivered the match-winning kill on the Huskies' second match point.
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Maria Bellinger led Delaware with 12 kills while Lani Mason paired eight digs with four aces.
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