BOSTON -- Northeastern volleyball showed plenty of fight in a back-and-forth battle at Cabot Center on Saturday, rallying from a two-set deficit and building a double-digit lead in a decisive fourth set before Fairfield closed it out late, escaping with a 3-2 win (25-23, 25-23, 24-26, 19-25, 15-7).
Fairfield jumped out to a two-set lead, taking a pair of tight sets by identical 25-23 scores. But the Huskies refused to fold, digging in during the third set and trading points deep into extras before finally pulling away for a 26-24 win. Carrying that momentum, Northeastern came out firing in the fourth, building a comfortable cushion and cruising to a 25-19 win to force a decisive fifth. Fairfield settled in first in the finale, however, riding a late run to close out the match 15-7.
Emma Rowell led the way offensively with a match-high 19 kills and a team-best 20.5 points, hitting .289 on the night. Brynn Smith was right behind her with 15 kills of her own on a sharp .419 clip, good for 20.0 points to go with a team-high 12 digs. Kaylin Daniels was one of the most efficient hitters on the floor, tallying 9 kills at a .471 clip while also chipping in on the block. Cayenne Ceman rounded out the attack with 9 kills.
Setter Arina Sosinovica orchestrated the offense all match long, dishing a team-high 43 assists, and Sofia King added depth in the rotation running the second unit. Defensively, libero Aven Crosby paced the back row.
As a team, Northeastern out-hit Fairfield for the match, .282 to .205, and out-killed the Stags 61-52 while also winning the battle at the net with 12 total team blocks to Fairfield's 11 — evidence of a Huskies team that competed toe-to-toe for all five sets before coming up just short in the finish.
Northeastern closes out its home-opening weekend tournament tomorrow, taking on Harvard at 2 p.m. at Cabot Center.
