The Northeastern volleyball team swept away the competition this weekend, winning the New England Classic tournament. The Huskies dominated play over the course of three victories, lifting their record to 11-3 and giving them a great momentum heading into conference play beginning next weekend.

On Friday night at Solomon Court, Northeastern downed Boston College in four sets behind a team-high 21 kills from outside hitter Kelly Bacon—marking a career best for the junior. Junior Nichole Kurz chipped in nine kills and four blocks and sophomore setter Jillian Briner added eight kills, 22 assists and seven digs.

In the second match on Saturday afternoon at Solomon Court, the Huskies cruised by Harvard in straight sets (25-17, 25-21, 25-17). Northeastern’s balanced attack included nine killed apiece from co-captains junior Janelle Tucker and senior Nicole Bishop. Junior Ina Kamenova led Northeastern in assists for the ninth time this season, with 21.

Northeastern closed out the tournament with another straight-set victory over Connecticut (25-19, 25-17, 25-14) on Saturday night at Solomon Court. Bacon amassed a team-high 12 kills, marking the 9th time this season that she has led the squad in that category.
The trio of victories improved the Huskies’ home record to a perfect 5-0.

After a busy start to the season in which the Huskies played four tournaments, including one in California and another in North Carolina, the team will now head into league play. Northeastern opens its Colonial Athletic Association slate against Hofstra at Solomon Court on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Bishop’s strong play has earned her a loyal following. A cheering section at the Connecticut game, for example, included a group of male students with letters painted on their chests reading “ALL HAIL BISHOP.”

After the big weekend on the court, she praised the team’s tournament success.

“It was huge to play that way this weekend,” she said in a post-tournament interview. “We worked on the game plan, we focused and we just played Northeastern volleyball. We’re just going to fine tune, work really hard this week and prepare for Hofstra.”