WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Five Huskies tallied double-digit kills as the Northeastern volleyball team (11-10, 9-6 CAA) took down William & Mary (12-13, 7-8 CAA) in four sets on Saturday afternoon at Kaplan Arena. The victory marks 13 straight wins for the Huskies against the Tribe.
Abby Reck paced the Huskies with a team-high 16 kills on .286 hitting. Northeastern also had strong performances from
Anabel Zier, who had a big day with 13 kills on .542 hitting,
Defne Arliel notched 12 kills and 10 digs,
Julianna Truscott notched 11 kills, and
Marika Virthe tallied a career-high 10 kills on a blistering .714 hitting percentage.
- Set One: Both teams traded points, with neither leading by more than three at the start. Back-to-back kills from Reck and Arliel propelled the Huskies to a 13-10 advantage, but the Tribe responded back with two straight points to cut the deficit to 13-12. After Northeastern had a 17-15 lead, William & Mary went on a 6-0 run to pull ahead 21-17. The Huskies responded back with four straight points to knot the score up, but William & Mary pulled back in front. A kill by Truscott gave Northeastern set point (24-23), but the Tribe responded with two straight points to lead 25-24. A kill by Virthe tied the score at 25, but William & Mary closed the frame up at 27-25. Reck paced the Huskies with six kills in the set.
- Set Two: Northeastern got off to a 10-8 advantage and maintained a slim lead for most of the set. A few points later, the Huskies went on a 4-0 run to extend their advantage to 15-10. A kill by Reck followed by an error by the hosts gave Northeastern a 20-15 lead down the stretch, but William & Mary continued to fight back. William & Mary knotted the score up at 22, and the two teams went back and forth until the 26th point. Tied at 26, back-to-back errors by the Tribe gave Northeastern the set win at 28-26.
- Set Three: The Huskies led 11-8, but William & Mary responded back with three straight points to knot the score up. Both teams traded points, with neither leading by more than three for most of the set. An error by the hosts gave the Huskies a 23-20 advantage, but William & Mary knotted the score back up. After the Tribe tallied set point at 25-24, Virthe responded with a kill to keep the Huskies alive. Both teams went back and forth until a kill by Zier and an error gave the Huskies the set at 28-26.
- Set Four: Northeastern stormed out to an early 9-4 lead, capped off by kills from Arliel and Reck. The Tribe continued to fight back at the halfway point to trim the deficit to 14-13, but a kill by Kinley Gomez and an error by William & Mary gave the momentum back to the Huskies. A kill by Virthe gave Northeastern a 23-21 lead down the stretch, and Gomez closed the set with the match winning kill at 25-23.
- Zier also had a team-high six blocks.
- Tessa Onaga tallied a team-high 18 digs.
- Truscott also notched eight digs and four blocks.
- Virthe added five blocks.
- Inbal Peleg tallied her second double-double of the season with a stellar 53 assists and 13 digs.
Both teams will face each other again on Sunday, November 5. First serve is slated for 1 p.m. and will stream on FloVolleyball.
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