Elon Volleyball Falls in Five at Northeastern

BOSTON – For the third straight time, the Elon volleyball team took a match to five sets, however, the Phoenix was not able to come out on top tonight, Oct. 7, falling, 3-2 (19-25, 25-21, 20-25, 25-20, 11-15), at Northeastern in the Cabot Center.

BOX SCORE

The Phoenix (15-6, 2-3) saw double-doubles from three players on the night, while four players finished in double digit kills. Sydney Busa tallied a match-high 18 kills and a new career-high 18 digs followed by 16 kills and 13 digs from Kam Terry. Sydel Curry recorded 53 assists and 14 digs, while Michelle Klein and Ebony Scott posted 13 and 11 kills, respectively. Elon finished with eight total blocks with the help of five by Klein and four from Busa.

The Huskies (14-5, 4-1) were led by 40 assists and 20 digs from Kristen Walding, while Hannah Fry posted a team-high 13 kills. Gabrielle Eyl led all players with 26 digs as four NU players finished with three blocks each.

How it Happened
Kills by Busa and Coil and an ace by Klein got the first set off to a 3-0 start for the Phoenix before the Huskies evened the score and took an 11-7 lead. A kill by Agae and block by Klein and Curry pulled Elon back within two, 11-9, to keep the maroon and gold within striking distance. Elon evened the score again, 15-all, after kills by Busa and Klein. A Terry kill and block from Klein and Curry kept the Phoenix within two, 20-18, before NU pulled away to win the set, 25-19.

With the second set tied at four-all, a kill by Busa sparked a 7-1 run for the maroon and gold that made it an 11-5 Phoenix advantage. The Huskies closed the gap to four, 13-9, before a Terry kill capped 7-3 run for an eight-point lead, 20-12, forcing NU’s second timeout. Northeastern rallied to cut its deficit to just three, 24-21, before a final kill from Terry closed out the set for Elon, 25-21, to even the match.

In the third set, the Huskies moved in front by as much as three, 14-11, before the maroon and gold closed the gap to one, 14-13. Northeastern was able to maintain its lead and extend it to five, 19-14, but a kill by Scott and another three by Klein kept the Phoenix within two, 21-19. However, NU claimed four of the final five points to take the set, 25-20.

With the fourth set even at six-all, a kill by Scott and three kills by Busa helped Elon to five straight to take an 11-6 lead and force a Huskie timeout. Kills by Scott and Busa continued as the Phoenix maintained a five-point edge, 14-9, before the Huskies pulled within two, 15-13. The maroon and gold used a 6-1 run that was capped by a block from Busa and Alexa Pavlick to hold a six-point lead, 21-15. NU was able to come within three, 22-19, before a block by Terry and Klein closed out the set, 25-20, for the maroon and gold to send the match to a fifth set.

With the help of three kills by Klein, Elon jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the fifth set to force an early Northeastern timeout. The Huskies rallied to even the set at six-all as the score saw four more ties before NU took the lead, 12-10, and moved on to a 15-11 win.

Up Next
The Phoenix closes out a four-match road swing at Hofstra on Sunday, Oct. 9, in Hempstead, N.Y., in a 1 p.m. match.