By By Nathan Vaughan
The volleyball team came as close to making the NCAA tournament as possible last season, falling 15-13 in the fifth and final set of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) tournament championship on Solomon Court. ‘ This season, the team will look to take the next step and return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2001. They took the regular season CAA title last season, the first CAA regular-season championship any Northeastern team has won since joining the conference in 2005.
Northeastern lost three key members of its 2008 team including both outside hitters. Former captain and outside hitter Lauren DeTurk, outside hitter Brianna Seitz and opposite hitter Sarah Stein all finished their eligibility.
DeTurk continued her athletic career at Northeastern with the track and field team, throwing the javelin. She will also be continuing with the volleyball team as the undergraduate assistant coach. In volleyball, DeTurk was the CAA Player of the Year, a member of the first team All-CAA, and on the All-CAA tournament team. ‘ ‘[DeTurk] is a student of the game,’ head coach Ken Nichols said. ‘She is very intuitive.’
Although Nichols said he prefers to have DeTurk on the court he is pleased he will still have her around to assist the team.
‘She will be able to continue on in a leadership role as she develops into a world class coach,’ Nichols said. ‘She still has a great deal of respect from these athletes and has a lot to contribute.’ ‘ Nichols said he is considering many options to replace the graduating seniors. Sophomore Stephanie Starnes will take one of the open outside spots, but the other outside hitter position is still open. The three players in the mix are senior setter Jessica Tkachuk, junior setter Britney Brown and junior middle Caitlin Tittl. Sophomore middle hitter Lauryn Ciszec looks too increase her role on the team at either her position or opposite hitter. ‘ With a strong recruit class including Nicole Bishop, a 6-foot, 4-inch middle from Park City, Utah, competing for time, the upperclassmen will be kept on their toes Nichols said. ‘ DeTurk’s departure means the back row loses a four-year contributor. Junior defensive specialists Helene Servillon and Christine Kubik look to fill the role this season. ‘ ‘[Servillon] and I have had some conversations,’ Nichols said. ‘She has stepped in on some serious pressure situations like the Hofstra match on the road [Sept. 27, a 3-2 NU win], when things were definitely tight. She stepped in under pressure and was phenomena. So she is definitely going to play a more substantial role. Right now the hitters that need to be replaced are very capable in the front row but are going to have a hard time fighting of Helene and Christie. Lauren was a one of our best passers and defensive players. So looking at the roster I think that I can replace Lauren adequately with two players.’
‘ The team will start practicing Aug. 9 and play the last weekend of August in the University of Mayland, Baltimore County memorial tournament. The team will take a west coast swing to play in the UC Irvine tournament, then face Long Beach State. The Huskies will also play in a tournament at Holy Cross. Dates and times have yet to be released. ‘ After the tournaments the Huskies start their conference schedule, which will include two rematches of the CAA championship game against Delaware. The Blue Hens were the only team to defeat Northeastern twice, beating them 3-0 Nov. 7 in Newark, Del. and 3-2 Nov. 24 at Solomon Court in the CAA championship.
‘ The lone two seniors, defensive specialist Leah Neubeck and Tkachuk, will be co-captains. Both players said they look forward to leading the team this season.’ ‘ ‘We have a really great group of girls coming back and coming in,’ Neubeck said. ‘So I think the team chemistry will be pretty high. So I think that we can encourage that and push it forward.’
