Northeastern Hands Towson 2nd Loss Behind Amy Underdown’s 24 Kills

MATCH STATS

• Northeastern def. Towson 3-1 (25-16, 23-25, 27-25, 25-18)
• Northeastern improves to 11-6 (4-0 CAA); Towson falls to 16-2 (2-2 CAA)
• Towson, Maryland (CAA Match)
• Attendance: 108
• Box Score

Towson, Maryland – After Towson started the season 16-0, they’ve hit a bit of a rough patch as Northeastern stayed unbeaten in CAA play with a four-set victory over the Tigers.

Reigning CAA Offensive Player of the Week, Amy Underdown, may earn some weekly honors again after posting a double-double with 24 kills, 10 digs, four blocks, four aces and two assists all while hitting .373.

While she carried an offense that hit .242 for the match, Gabrielle Eyl (23 digs) and Gabrille Tschannen (10 blocks) led the defense in holding Towson to a .194 mark. They did allow Towson’s Julymar Otero to 13 kills (.357) to go with 24 assists and 11 digs in a triple-double, but the Northeastern defense held every other player on Towson to a combined .131 hitting percentage.

The first set started with both teams trading blows before Northeastern scored 16 of the final 23 points in the set for a 1-0 lead. Set two started just as tightly, but never changed as 12 ties and six lead changes occurred. Through 45 points in the set, Northeastern led 23-22 as Towson was close to staring down an 0-2 deficit. A 3-0 Towson spurt brought them back and evened the match at 1-1 in sets however.

Set three continued the trend of a close game with nine ties and three lead changes, as Northeastern would give Towson a taste of their own medicine by coming from behind 24-22 to win the set 27-25. A 5-1 run would then turn into 9-1 as Northeastern grabbed the first four points in set four. Four straight for Towson followed by another spurt a bit later put them in front 14-10. The Huskies tightened things up at 18-16 before using a remarkable 9-0 run to end the match with a 3-1 victory.

Beyond their hitting advantage, Northeastern owned a 14-11 lead in blocks and an 8-2 edge in aces as both teams recorded six serve errors.

Northeastern will move on to face William & Mary and James Madison in two home matches for week three of the CAA year. Towson on the other hand will continue their season next week with two road matches against College of Charleston and UNC Wilmington.

PRESS RELEASES:

Courtesy of Northeastern:

Box Score TOWSON, Md. – Northeastern volleyball defeated Towson in four sets on Sunday. It was a hard fought match, but the Huskies came out on top to improve to 4-0 in Colonial Athletic Association play.

With this win, Northeastern becomes the only CAA team without a conference loss.

Amy Underdown led the match with 24 kills, while also posting 10 digs, four aces and four blocks. This was the sophomore’s eighth double-double of the season.

Freshman Gabrielle Tschannen racked up a career-high 10 blocks on the match and also posted four kills and two aces. From the back row, Gabrielle Eyl recorded 23 digs.

Samantha Shupe and Kristen Walding combined for 55 assists. As a team, Northeastern tallied eight aces from Underdown, Tschannen, Eyl and Sherrie Wang.

Set One Recap:

• 25-16, Northeastern
• The Huskies took their first lead of the set at 9-8
• A 7-2 run with two aces from Underdown gave Northeastern a 16-11 lead
• An Athena Ardila kill gave the Huskies the first set win

Set Two Recap:

• 25-21, Northeastern
• An ace from Eyl gave the Huskies an early 4-3 lead
• Towson went on a 5-0 run to take a 22-19 lead
• Kills from Walding and Underdown gave the Huskies a 23-22 lead
• The Tigers came out of a timeout to go on a 3-0 run to take the second set

Set Three Recap:

• 27-25, Northeastern
• The Huskies start off the second set with a 5-1 run
• Northeastern came back with a 7-2 run to tie the set at 21-21
• Underdown secured the set win for the Huskies, after they held off Towson’s set point

Set Four Recap:

• 25-18, Northeastern
• A Tschannen-Walding block gave the Huskies a 7-6 lead
• Underdown tied the set back up with a kill at 15-15
• Blocks from Tschannen and Walding gave Northeastern a 19-18 lead
• The Huskies scored 10 unanswered points to win the set and the match

Up Next For Northeastern:
The Huskies will continue conference play as they head back to Boston for a three-game home stand against William & Mary, James Madison and Elon. Northeastern will first face William & Mary on Thursday at 8 p.m. in the Cabot Center.