HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – Receiving double-double outings from juniors
Athena Ardila and
Samantha Shupe, the fourth-seeded Northeastern women's volleyball team went the distance with fifth-seeded Elon during Friday's CAA quarterfinal match – held at Hofstra's David S. Mack Physical Education Center – despite the Huskies coming two points shy of victory during the extended fifth set (26-24, 23-25, 25-18, 12-25, 16-14).
Ardila led all players in kills (19), attacks (51) and digs (17), hitting .333 at the net and registering two blocks. Shupe set 51 assists for NU in addition to recording 10 digs, four kills and three blocks.
Senior middle blocker
Natalie Shollin landed 13 kills on 23 attacks (hit .435) during her final collegiate match, tallying eight blocks (one solo) on top of serving the match high, four aces. Rookie outside hitter
Erica Staunton matched Shollin's 13 kills while seniors
Clare Lund and
Nicole Magbanua made 13 and 10 digs, respectively.
Northeastern (15-14, 9-7 CAA) finished +8 in kills and +7 in digs, collectively swinging .236 while limiting Elon (14-17, 7-9 CAA) to the .183 hitting percentage. The Phoenix won the blocking game, 13-10, and served nine aces to the Huskies' seven.
Shollin helped Northeastern dig out of its 16-10, first-set deficit, connecting on three kills during the Huskies' immediate five-point response. NU held as large as a three-point cushion during the opening set (22-19) before Elon rallied to steal it, winning seven of the final nine points.
Both sides sported 16-kill, six-error lines during the second set that witnessed Northeastern command a six-point lead at 17-11. Although the Phoenix responded with a five-point scoring run, the Huskies never relinquished the lead, siding out late to even the match.
After surrendering the wire-to-wire third set to Elon, Northeastern yielded 14 kills against one attack error during the fourth set, clinching it with a 12-2 scoring run.
Shupe and Shollin united on the block that gave the Huskies the 6-3 lead during the final set. Despite NU siding out to the 11-9 advantage, the Phoenix managed to rattle off four of the next five points to take their first lead at 13-12.
Shollin whipped up an ace to present Northeastern with a match point at 14-13, but Elon sandwiched two kills around Shupe's missed attack to earn the result and advance to Saturday's CAA semifinal against top-seeded Towson.
Leah Daniel led the Phoenix with 17 kills and nine digs while Kellyn Trowse paired 13 kills with 13 digs and two aces. Kodi Garcia and Haylie Clark mirrored each other with 10 digs and two aces, setting 25 and 23 assists, respectively.
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