2008 Woodie Awards
Young team 'learned big lesson' from losses
Jewel Della Valle
Issue date: 9/10/07 Section: Sports
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This year's volleyball team may be young, but the Huskies are seeing contributions from veterans and freshmen alike. Northeastern lost two of three matches in last weekend's Middle Tennessee Blue Raider Bash, but continues to see encouragement in the progress of the young group.
Freshman middle hitter Caitlin Tittl earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team, notching 22 kills and 14 blocks during the weekend, while freshman setter Britney Brown led the Huskies with 72 assists. As for the veterans, captain middle hitter Kira Batura notched her first two double-doubles of the season Saturday and junior outside hitter Lauren DeTurk fell one kill shy of the Husky lead in kills with 32.
The Huskies took on undefeated, No. 25 Middle Tennessee Friday and fell to a quick 0-3 defeat (14-30, 23-30, 13-30). Northeastern hit for a .089 attack percentage and managed just four blocks to Middle Tennessee's .425 hitting percentage and 13.5 blocks.
Tittl led the Huskies with seven digs, while sophomore setter Jessica Tkachuk had 13 assists and sophomore libero Leah Neubeck tied with Batura for six digs. Despite the harsh loss, DeTurk said the team learned from the experience.
"We learned how to adjust to their play," DeTurk said. "We needed to adjust earlier in the matches so we can pick up on things faster and not just stick with the same things the whole time, to switch up the momentum."
The Huskies came out strong against Belmont Saturday, taking the first two games, 30-24 and 30-19. But they let their guard down in game three, which Belmont took 20-30, and let the Bruins come back from an 0-2 deficit to win games four (25-30) and five (7-15).
"It's just a lack of experience playing together and so we also learned from that match a lot," DeTurk said. "[We learned] not to lay back on teams. That's going to be a big thing for conference because … everyone's playing for blood and no one's going to let down like that. I think we just learned a big lesson from that and I don't think we'll ever let that happen again."
DeTurk's 16 kills led Northeastern, while Brown was right behind her with 15 and a match-high .538 attacking percentage. Brown also shared the Husky lead in assists with Tkachuk, both notching 27, and fell two digs shy of her second triple-double of the year. Neubeck had 18 digs and Batura's first double-double of the season came after 11 kills and 15 digs.
Northeastern took the lessons from the first two matches and applied them in the 3-1 win over Texas-Arlington Saturday night. The Huskies lost game one, 19-30, but stormed back to take the next three games (30-26, 30-27, 30-27) for the win. DeTurk noted Northeastern's serve-receive game as playing a big part in the victory. Batura notched match-highs for her second double-double of the day with 21 kills and 20 digs. Tittl led the Huskies in attacking percentage at .556, while tallying 11 kills and Brown took home 35 assists to lead the team.
The Huskies are on the road to take on Connecticut Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Freshman middle hitter Caitlin Tittl earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team, notching 22 kills and 14 blocks during the weekend, while freshman setter Britney Brown led the Huskies with 72 assists. As for the veterans, captain middle hitter Kira Batura notched her first two double-doubles of the season Saturday and junior outside hitter Lauren DeTurk fell one kill shy of the Husky lead in kills with 32.
The Huskies took on undefeated, No. 25 Middle Tennessee Friday and fell to a quick 0-3 defeat (14-30, 23-30, 13-30). Northeastern hit for a .089 attack percentage and managed just four blocks to Middle Tennessee's .425 hitting percentage and 13.5 blocks.
Tittl led the Huskies with seven digs, while sophomore setter Jessica Tkachuk had 13 assists and sophomore libero Leah Neubeck tied with Batura for six digs. Despite the harsh loss, DeTurk said the team learned from the experience.
"We learned how to adjust to their play," DeTurk said. "We needed to adjust earlier in the matches so we can pick up on things faster and not just stick with the same things the whole time, to switch up the momentum."
The Huskies came out strong against Belmont Saturday, taking the first two games, 30-24 and 30-19. But they let their guard down in game three, which Belmont took 20-30, and let the Bruins come back from an 0-2 deficit to win games four (25-30) and five (7-15).
"It's just a lack of experience playing together and so we also learned from that match a lot," DeTurk said. "[We learned] not to lay back on teams. That's going to be a big thing for conference because … everyone's playing for blood and no one's going to let down like that. I think we just learned a big lesson from that and I don't think we'll ever let that happen again."
DeTurk's 16 kills led Northeastern, while Brown was right behind her with 15 and a match-high .538 attacking percentage. Brown also shared the Husky lead in assists with Tkachuk, both notching 27, and fell two digs shy of her second triple-double of the year. Neubeck had 18 digs and Batura's first double-double of the season came after 11 kills and 15 digs.
Northeastern took the lessons from the first two matches and applied them in the 3-1 win over Texas-Arlington Saturday night. The Huskies lost game one, 19-30, but stormed back to take the next three games (30-26, 30-27, 30-27) for the win. DeTurk noted Northeastern's serve-receive game as playing a big part in the victory. Batura notched match-highs for her second double-double of the day with 21 kills and 20 digs. Tittl led the Huskies in attacking percentage at .556, while tallying 11 kills and Brown took home 35 assists to lead the team.
The Huskies are on the road to take on Connecticut Wednesday at 7 p.m.
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