ELON, N.C. – Double-double outings by Kellyn Trowse and Haylie Clark weren't enough as Elon University volleyball suffered a 3-2 setback at Northeastern on Saturday, Oct. 23 inside the Cabot Center.

"It was a hard-fought match today by two good teams," head coach Mary Tendler said after the match. "We are getting a lot of experience at playing the same team on back-to-back days. We will watch video, make any necessary changes and fight for a different outcome tomorrow."
 
Elon 2, Northeastern 3 (25-23, 22-25, 25-23, 19-25, 9-15)
THE RUNDOWN
An early 6-1 swing allowed the Huskies (10-9, 6-3 CAA) to take control of the first set at 7-3, but aces from Trowse and Alex VanWestrienen highlighted a 7-1 response as the Phoenix (13-8, 8-3) wrestled away the lead at 11-9. After the hosts pulled even at 11-11, Clark assisted Trowse to begin a 4-0 run for the maroon and gold. NU then tied the set again at 20-20. After trading several points, Leah Daniel and Trowse put together back-to-back kills as Elon won, 25-23.

Elon jumped out to a 5-0 lead at the start of Set Two thanks to four NU errors. Jenn Krzeminski converted three attacks and VanWestrienen served another ace as the Phoenix created some separation at 14-9. However, the Huskies took over at 20-18 with a 7-1 push and held on the rest of the set. A ball handling error gave the maroon and gold hope at 23-22, but the home teams earned the next two points to tie the match at a set apiece.

The third set featured long runs by both sides. Elon jumped out to a 14-6 advantage, but NU gathered itself with seven unanswered points. The Phoenix would knot the set at 20-20 on a kill from Natalie Cummins. She and teammate Sydney Love then denied an NU attack and Trowse followed with another kill. Both teams then traded points as Love scored the set point at 25-23.

Set Four remained close until the Huskies took over 19-13 with a 5-0 run. Elon was unable to catch NU from there as the hosts stayed alive with a 25-19 decision. In the decisive set, Love put away a ball from Clark to tie the score at 5-5. After NU went up 10-7, Clark and Cummins scored kills to get Elon to within a point. However, the Huskies closed out the set and the match with five straight points. 
 
HIGHLIGHTS
Trowse finished the match with 11 kills and 14 digs while adding three assists, one service ace and two blocks. Clark reached 46 assists with 10 digs to go along with four kills, one ace and five blocks. Daniel led both teams with 23 kills, Love just missed out on double digits with nine kills, and Cummins and Krzeminski contributed seven kills each. VanWestrienen served three aces with 11 digs, Krzeminski tallied eight blocks (one solo), and Jordan Gower also had double-digit digs with 12.
 
NOTES
- The all-time series now stands at 10-5 in favor of the Huskies.
- The match featured 21 ties and 11 lead changes.
- Elon swung for a .224 hitting percentage compared to a .240 clip by NU.
- Elon held the edge in blocking, 11-10. However, NU led in points (86.0-78.0), kills (65-61), service aces (11-6), assists (62-58) and digs (64-60).
- Daniel now owns 1,158 career kills and moves into 10th place on Elon's all-time leaders list. She overtakes Juliena Gigon (2003-06), who finished her career with 1,143 kills, and is nine kills away from tying Laura Griffin (1999-02) for ninth place.
- This was the first double-double of the season for Trowse and her 14 digs mark a new season high.
- Clark's 46 assists are her second-highest total this season. She has now reached double-digit assists in 46 straight matches. She also eclipsed 1,700 career assists on the day.
- This was the third double-double outing of the season for Clark.
- VanWestrienen's three aces tie her season high, and Krzeminski's eight blocks mark a new season best.

UP NEXT
The teams play again tomorrow with another 2 p.m. first serve.