TOWSON, Md. - Northeastern rallied for a 3-2 victory over the Towson University volleyball team in Colonial Athletic Association play. The Tigers (20-8, 7-4 CAA) had a four-match win streak snapped despite a season-high 19 kills from sophomore Dayane Van Ass on Friday evening.
"We didn't stick to the game plan the whole way through the match and it cost us," said Towson Coach Bruce Atkinson. "We need to follow through the entire match in order to succeed."
In the first set, the two teams were tied at 10-10 before the Tigers got seven straight points on junior Alysha McCreary's serves. Towson would extend its lead to 22-13 behind a kill from senior Susan Gansor. A kill from sophomore I'ishah Keliikoa gave the Tigers a 25-19 first set win. In the second set, the Tigers and Huskies (19-4, 9-2 CAA) were tied at 19-19. Towson was able to take advantage of a couple of Northeastern errors and a few key kills to score the final six points of the set. The 25-19 win in the second set gave the home team a 2-0 advantage in the match.
The third set proved to be a tightly contested one as the teams battled through six ties and four lead changes. Northeastern used seven kills and four digs from Janelle Tucker in the set to claim a 25-23 victory. The Huskies held the Tigers to a .118 hitting percentage in the fourth set while hitting .333. That allowed Northeastern to earn a 25-17 win in the set and tie the match at 2-2.
Trailing all of the fifth and decisive set, the Tigers rallied to tie the set at 13-13. However, the Huskies got back-to-back kills from Kelly Bacon to earn the 15-13 win and victory in the match.
The Tigers, who were forced to play five sets for just the second time this season, were led by Van Ass. She hit .395 in the contest and added three blocks. Sophomore Katy Buck had 16 kills and nine digs while junior Aubrey Kirven contributed 51 assists, 13 digs and four kills. Freshman Paige Sekerak posted 19 digs while Gansor and Keliikoa had eight kills and four blocks each.
Northeastern was led by Tucker and Bacon, who recorded 18 kills each. Tucker added 14 digs and three service aces while Bacon contributed nine digs. Ina Kameonva finished with 39 assists and six digs while Natalia Skiba had a match-high 25 digs.
Towson closes out the home portion of its regular season schedule on Saturday, Nov. 5. The Tigers will host Hofstra at 7 p.m. and will take time to honor their senior, Gansor prior to the match.
- TOWSONTIGERS.COM -
