Elon’s Gravley Reaches 1,000 Kills; Phoenix Volleyball Suffers Setback to Huskies

BOSTON – With her fifth kill of the night, Elon volleyball’s Megan Gravley reached the 1,000-career kill mark as the Phoenix fell to Northeastern, 3-1 (19-25, 25-21, 27-29, 24-26), tonight, Sept. 25, in the Cabot Center to open Colonial Athletic Association play.

Gravley led the Phoenix (3-11, 0-1 CAA) and all players with 12 kills and also tallied six digs. Sydney Busa, Ebony Scott and Kam Terry all finished with eight kills in the match. Both Kayla Agae and Erin Kelly recorded 17 assists, while Kelly tallied 12 digs to earn a double-double.

On defense, Maddie Jaudon finished with 16 digs, while Michelle Klein posted five blocks to help Elon to seven total team blocks.

Carmen Costa finished with a team-high nine kills for the Huskies (4-13, 1-1 CAA), while the team saw 22 digs from Ashlee Asada.

How it happened: With the first set tied at six-all, the Huskies managed an 8-1 run to claim a 14-7 advantage. The Phoenix used kills by Klein, Terry, Scott and Gravley to rally and pull within five, 22-17, but NU held on for a 25-19 win.

A block by Klein and Scott and a Terry kill helped the maroon and gold to a 15-10 lead in the second set before the Huskies evened the score at 15-all. After an Elon timeout, two kills by Busa, one by Ally Karle and an ace from Terry put the Phoenix back up by three, 19-16. Elon maintained its advantage to claim a 25-21 set win and even the match.

In the third set, Gravley’s fifth kill of the match and the 1,000th of her career helped put the Phoenix up by four, 20-16. Two more kills by Gravley and one by Scott gave Elon set point, 24-21, before the Huskies rallied to even the set at 24-all. The maroon and gold reached set point twice more but NU was able to take the win, 29-27.

After trailing 6-3 in the fourth set, kills by Scott helped Elon rally to take an 11-10 advantage. A kill and ace by Gravley and block by Klein and Busa kept the Phoenix ahead, 16-13. With the maroon and gold still leading by three, 23-20, the Huskies managed to score four straight to take a one-point edge, 24-23. Northeastern claimed two of the final three points to close out the set, 26-24, and take the match win.

Up next: Elon continues its Northeast pilgrimage with a trip to Hofstra on Sunday, Sept. 27, for a 1 p.m. match in Hempstead, N.Y.