HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – Elon University volleyball will make its first appearance in the CAA Championship semifinals following a 3-2 defeat of No. 4 Northeastern Friday night, Nov. 22 at Hoftra's David S. Mack Physical Education Center.
Following the victory, head coach
Mary Tendler commented, "We knew it was going to be a close match, and it was going to come down to closing out sets. We did that today, even in the second set that we lost but finished really strong. I'm very proud of this team for the full TEAM effort they put together today. All 15 players made an impact."
With the win, the Phoenix improves to 14-17 on the season.
Elon 3, Northeastern 2 | 26-24, 23-25, 25-18, 12-25, 16-14
THE RUNDOWN
Down 6-5 in the first set,
Haylie Clark set up
Leah Daniel for a kill to pull Elon even. The play started a 5-2 swing for the maroon and gold, capped off by a
Natalie Cummins and
Nori Thomas block. The teams then traded points before a Cummins score and a pair of
Kellyn Trowse service aces highlighted a 5-0 push that put the Phoenix out front, 16-10. The Huskies wrestled back the lead at 22-19 with a 6-1 response, but
Jenn Krzeminski followed Trowse's lead and served up an ace that tied the game at 22-22. With the sides knotted at 24-24,
Kodi Garcia set up
Julia Crabtree and Trowse for consecutive kills and the first set point.
Northeastern pulled ahead 17-11 in the next set, but Elon closed the gap with five unanswered. The Huskies pulled away again with a 4-0 stretch, but three-consecutive kills by Trowse kept the Phoenix close at 21-19. A Cummins and Trowse block made it a one-point deficit at 22-21, but the home team on the scoreboard tied the match at a set apiece with a 25-23 tally.
Multiple errors by Northeastern and an
Isabella Seman ace helped Elon build an early 5-1 advantage in the third set. The Huskies finally got going and were able to get to within 10-9, but Elon pulled away from there and retook the match lead 2-1 with a 25-18 decision. However, Set Four belonged to Northeastern. The Huskies put together runs of 5-0, 4-0 and 7-0 to cruise to a 25-12 result and force a decisive set.
The Huskies held a 6-3 lead in the fifth set, but a service error and a Krzeminski service ace got Elon to within 7-6. Later, kills by Crabtree and Daniel tied the score at 11-11. Facing match point at 14-13, Elon kept its season alive as Clark assisted Trowse on a kill. After a Northeastern attack error, Clark pushed a ball to the back corner that the diving Huskies libero couldn't get to.
HIGHLIGHTS
The Phoenix had three players record double-doubles in the match: Garcia finished with 25 assists and 10 digs, Trowse scored 13 kills with a team-high 13 digs, and Clark tallied 23 assists with 10 digs. Daniel just missed out with 17 kills and nine digs, and Crabtree set a new career high with 12 kills. Garcia, Trowse, Krzeminski, and Clark each served two aces, and Cummins made a career-best 10 blocks (three solo).
NOTES
-Elon claims 2-of-3 matches versus the Huskies this season after the teams split the regular season.
-Tonight was the second five-set match against Northeastern this season. Elon won the first meeting 3-2 on Sept. 29 in Schar Center after edging the visitors 15-9 in the final set.
-It was the 10th time this season a match has gone to five sets.
-The Phoenix trims Northeastern's lead in the all-time series to 9-5.
-It was Elon's first conference tournament victory since a 3-0 win over fourth-seeded Davidson in the first round of the 2010 SoCon Championship.
-With nine blocks through the first three sets, Cummins tied the mark for most by a CAA player in three sets this season.
UP NEXT
Elon retakes the court Saturday afternoon, Nov. 23 for a 2 p.m. meeting with top-seeded Towson.
--ELON--
