HAMPTON, Va. – The Northeastern volleyball team dropped the opening set but took the next three to beat Hampton, 3-1 (19-25, 25-20, 25-12, 25-23), Friday night at Holland Hall.
Valentina Meirelles led the Huskies with 13 kills, hitting .346, and added four block assists and a solo block for 16.0 points. Cayenne Ceman picked up 10 kills, two aces and 13 digs, and was the main passer with 26 reception attempts. Bryce Leatherwood hit .556 with six kills and five blocks, and Beatrice Gennari added seven kills, two aces and three blocks for 11.0 points.
Hampton took control early in the first set, building a 15-6 lead. Northeastern came back to within one at 16-15 behind Gennari's six-point service run, but the Pirates closed out the set, 25-19.
The Huskies tightened up in the second set. Hampton rallied from a 16-11 deficit to lead 18-16, but Northeastern closed on a 9-2 run to win 25-20. The third set belonged to the Huskies. After Hampton led 2-1, Gabby Reeves went to the service line and Northeastern ran off 11 straight points (10 of them on her serve), then cruised to a 25-12 win. Northeastern hit .318 in the set while holding Hampton to a -.138 attack percentage.
The fourth set was tight, with 12 ties, and the score was 23-23 late. Zehra Yilmaz stepped to the service line and served an ace for match point, and Hampton's next attack went into the net to end it. Yilmaz finished with three aces in the set.
Northeastern outhit Hampton .244 to .132 for the match and finished with 51 kills to 41. The Huskies also held edges in assists (44-35), digs (68-59) and blocks (10.0-6.0). Reeves ran the offense with 17 assists, Arina Sosinovica added 13 assists and nine digs, and libero Aven Crosby posted 14 digs. Racquel Frazier led Hampton with 14 kills, and Belen Ferrufino dished out 19 assists.
Northeastern improves to 5-16 overall and 3-10 in the CAA. Hampton falls to 2-19, 0-11.
