📹 | @GoNUwvolleyball head coach Caitlin Schweihofer discusses the takeaways from Sunday's five-set match between the #HowlinHuskies and Elon. pic.twitter.com/xsj18Wq7LV

— Northeastern Volleyball (@GoNUwvolleyball) September 29, 2019

ELON, N.C. – Despite staking the two-set lead on Sunday at Elon, the Northeastern women's volleyball team was unable to bring home the win as the Huskies were defeated in five sets at Schar Center (23-25, 19-25, 25-22, 25-23, 15-9).
 
Northeastern (7-7, 1-1 CAA) was three points away from a straight-set victory when Elon (7-8, 2-0 CAA) won the final six points of the third set to extend the match. After saving two of three set points during the fourth set, the Huskies took fifth-set leads at 3-1 and 6-5 before the Phoenix rallied to complete their comeback.
 
Natalie Shollin and Nailah Jenkins controlled the middle for Northeastern, which executed 11 blocks against Elon's seven. Shollin led the Huskies with 12 kills and six blocks (hit .417) while Jenkins totaled seven kills and five blocks.
 
Samantha Shupe notched her fourth double-double of the 2019 season, pairing 20 assists with 11 digs. Liz Carroll set 26 of the Huskies' 54 kills while Kayla Martin served five aces to go with her career high, 21 digs.
 
Three straight kills by Jenkins, Brianna Daphnis and Athena Ardila midway through the opening set capped a 6-2 scoring run for Northeastern that put the Huskies out in front, 13-8. Although Elon responded immediately with seven unanswered points, NU spurred a late five-point run to overcome its 19-16 deficit, totaling four first-set blocks to grab the opener, 25-23.
 
Northeastern burst out to the 12-4 advantage during the second set, receiving seven kills from four attackers and three combined aces from Martin (two) and Evelyn Gonzalez. Martin went on to tack on a third ace as the Huskies yielded their best hitting percentage of the match (.281), producing 12 kills and taking the two-set lead.
 
Trailing Elon, 15-8, during the third set, Northeastern assembled a dominant, nine-point scoring run to claim the 17-15 lead and close in on the match. Late attack errors by the Phoenix put NU in control at 22-19, but the Huskies caught a cold spell, hitting into two blocks during Elon's set-closing, six-point run.
 
Northeastern and Elon both slugged 15 kills during the fourth set, which featured nine tied scores and six lead changes. Jenkins delivered the kill that left NU within a point of the Phoenix at 19-18, but the home team turned in four kills down the stretch to force the decisive fifth set.
 
Elon staged a four-point run to steal the 6-5 lead from the Huskies during the tiebreak, landing eight fifth-set kills to Northeastern's four.
 
Leah Daniel led the Phoenix with 21 kills (hit .327) and three blocks while Kodi Garcia registered 30 assists, seven digs and two aces.