HAMILTON, N.Y. -- Northeastern volleyball raced out to an early two-set lead and withstood a Dartmouth push in the third before closing out the match, defeating the Big Green 3-1 (25-21, 25-16, 12-25, 25-15) at Cotterell Court on Saturday.
The Huskies took control from the start, opening with a 25-21 win before blowing the second set open behind a big run and cruising to a 25-16 finish to take a commanding 2-0 lead. Dartmouth answered with its best set of the match, rolling to a lopsided 25-12 win to cut the deficit in half, but Northeastern regrouped in the fourth and put the match away with a 25-15 win.
Emma Rowell led all hitters with 16 kills and a match-high 19.5 points, hitting .211 on the afternoon. Beatrice Gennari was tremendously efficient alongside her, piling up 11 kills at a scorching .450 clip for 13.0 points. Brynn Smith and Valentina Meirelles each chipped in 6 kills, with Meirelles also pacing the defense at the net.
Setter Sofia King directed the offense in her return to the lineup, racking up a team-high 23 assists to go with 6 digs, while Arina Sosinovica added depth running the second unit. Defensively, libero Iris Canko topped the Huskies with 15 digs.
As a team, Northeastern out-killed Dartmouth 48-38 for the match, closing out the win despite a rough third set that let the Big Green briefly back into it.
Northeastern closes out the Ellis Rowland Memorial Tournament tomorrow, taking on UAlbany at 4 p.m. at Cotterell Court.
