BOSTON, Mass. – The College of Charleston volleyball team fell to Northeastern, 3-1, in a battle for first place in the Colonial Athletic Association standings on Friday evening, as the two teams combined for more than 160 digs in a scrappy defensive scuffle.
Northeastern (19-7, 9-3 CAA) won the match by scores of 25-22, 17-25, 25-22, and 25-22, as the Huskies combined for 52 kills, 82 digs, and seven blocks. The College of Charleston (15-8, 8-3 CAA) posted more kills (62), service aces (six) and points (71), but committed nearly twice as many errors as the Huskies in the match.
Kennedy Madison (Evansville, Ind.) paced the Cougar attack with a match-high 15 kills, as Maddie Hills (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) added 13 kills and a .385 attacking clip. Devon Rachel (Louisville, Ky.) posted her 13th double-double of the season with 14 kills and 12 digs, while Riana Brennan (Los Gatos, Calif.) recorded a double-double of her own with 12 digs and 10 kills. McKala Rhodes (Charleston, S.C.) tallied 24 digs, and Allison Beckman (Apex, N.C.) accounted for a double-double with 38 assists and 12 digs.
Brigitte Burcescu led the way for Northeastern with 15 kills and a .378 clip on the attack, as Jamie Bredahl added 11 kills and 16 digs. Kristen Walding dished out a match-high 46 assists, as Gabrielle Eyl recorded a contest-best 31 digs.
The Huskies rallied from an early 6-4 deficit in the first with a 7-2 run, which gave Northeastern an 11-8 advantage and resulted in a Cougar timeout. A 9-6 spurt from Charleston evened the tally at 17-17, before the Huskies answered with an 8-5 stretch to claim the first set on a smash from Hannah Fry.
Charleston fought back early in the second, opening the frame with an 8-3 run before pushing the advantage to 15-8 on three straight kills from Rachel, Hills and Madison. The Cougars stretched the margin to 22-13 following an ace from Beckman, and capped the set with a Madison smash to even the match at 1-1.
Northeastern countered with a 9-3 surge to open the third set, before a pair of kills from Brennan cut the margin to 11-10. After back-to-back Huskie miscues gave CofC an 18-17 advantage, Northeastern countered with three straight points to reclaim the lead at 20-18. Charleston knotted the tally at 21-21 moments later with a Rachel smash, before the Huskies answered with a 4-1 spurt to take a 2-1 advantage in the match.
The fourth set proved to be perhaps the most competitive of the night, with neither team holding more than a three-point advantage until a Bredahl kill and a block by Fry and Caterina Rosander put Northeastern ahead, 20-16. After Madison trimmed the margin to 21-18 with a smash, Hills cut the lead to 23-21 with back-to-back kills to push her total to 12 for the night. Bredahl countered with a kill to push the Cougars to match point, and after Hills answered with her 13th of the match, Bredahl answered with another smash to close out the match for the Huskies.
Charleston will close out its weekend road trip on Sunday afternoon in Hempstead, N.Y. against third-place Hofstra (18-7, 8-4 CAA). First serve is slated for 1:00 pm.
