BOSTON - Paced by a career day from
Brynn Smith, the Northeastern volleyball team (6-7, 4-1 CAA) took down the William & Mary Tribe (5-9, 1-4 CAA) in a five-set thriller on Friday afternoon at the Cabot Center.
Smith led NU's offense with a career-high 21 kills and nine digs. Her stellar performance ranks second in program history for "most kills in a single match by a freshman" behind Hannah Boyd (23 kills vs. UNH (9/11/18).
Millie Loehr and
Kaylin Daniels also tallied double-digit kills for the Huskies. Loehr notched 15 kills, and Daniels had a career-high 10 kills on .444 hitting.
On defense,
Nadia Koanui notched a career-high 30 digs, while
Georgia Stavrinides had a team-high seven blocks.
- Set One: Both teams traded points, with neither leading by more than two. A kill by Loehr trimmed the Tribe lead to 17-14, but William & Mary responded with two straight points. The Huskies though, fought back down the stretch. After the visitors extended their advantage to 23-21, back-to-back kills by Loehr and Jane Nelson knotted the score up. The Tribe then took four of the next six points to win the set at 27-25.
- Set Two: NU got off to an early 10-6 advantage, capped off by a kill from Smith. Northeastern continued to push the pace, extending its lead to 16-7 after six straight points. Smith paced the Huskies in the frame with five kills to seal a 25-16 set win.
- Set Three: Both teams went back and forth to start the frame, with neither leading by more than one. William & Mary tallied three straight points to pull ahead at 14-10, and the Tribe didn't look back. The Huskies went on a 3-0 run down the stretch to trim the deficit to 21-17, but the visitors notched the next four points to take the set at 25-17.
- Set Four: Daniels was the story for NU in the frame, tallying four kills to propel the Huskies to a 13-9 advantage. A few points later, back-to-back Tribe errors and blocks by Gennari and Loehr extended the lead to 19-12. William & Mary fought back down the stretch and took a 25-24 advantage, but the Huskies tallied the next three points to win the set (27-25).
- Set Five: NU took an early 8-4 lead, capped off by back-to-back kills from Smith. The Huskies' offense continued to be strong, extending the advantage to 12-8 after kills from Daniels and Loehr. Northeastern hit a blistering .550 (11 kills, no errors) in the frame, and won the set at 15-10.
- Carly Cooper dished out a team-high 35 assists and Gabby Reeves had a career-high 21 assists.
- Stavrinides chipped in with eight kills.
- Nelson and Beatrice Gennari tallied seven kills apiece.
- The match featured 21 ties, and 10 lead changes.
The Huskies will close out play against the Tribe on Saturday, October 5. First serve is slated for 1 p.m. on FloVolleyball.
