Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell

Boxscore

NEWARK, Del. - The University of Delaware volleyball team picked up its eighth straight victory with an impressive 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-18) win over Northeastern in a rematch of last year's Colonial Athletic Association title bout on Saturday afternoon at Viera Court.

Kim Stewart (at right) posted her team-leading seventh double-double of the season after notching 10 kills and a match-high 13 digs. One day after reaching the 1,000-kill plateau, Katie Dennehy remained hot as well. The junior outside hitter fired 12 kills and hit .417 to help guide the potent Blue Hen offense.

With the win, Delaware (12-5, 5-0 CAA) improved to 9-0 at home this season. Dating back to last year, the squad has won 15 straight in Newark since the team's last loss on October 10, 2008.

The Blue Hens' 5-0 start in conference action also marks the program's finest start since joining the CAA. The 2004 and 2007 squads previously had opened with four straight league victories before their first loss.

Seniors Michelle LaLonde and Kelly Gibson helped set the tone early against Northeastern (10-8, 3-2), who had entered the match on a three-set roll. LaLonde fired a pair of kills and teamed with Alissa Alker on a block in the early going, while Gibson slammed back-to-back aces to guide the squad to a 12-7 lead.

After the Huskies captured the next two rallies, Dennehy came out firing. She launched three kills in the span of four rallies to regain a five-point advantage for UD. Later, Paige Erickson chipped in with a kill and ace on consecutive plays before LaLonde added two more blasts to give the squad a comfortable 20-13 edge.

Although Northeastern eventually whittled its deficit down to four, three lasers by Dennehy closed out the set and gave Delaware a 25-20 victory.

In the second frame, the Blue Hens stumbled momentarily as the Huskies took an early 3-1 lead. However, after an error by Northeastern and a block and blast by LaLonde gave UD a 4-3 lead, the squad never again trailed in the match.

After the Huskies knotted the set at five, the Hens ran away with the next six rallies, highlighted by two kills and a block by Stewart, to grab an 11-5 lead. With a commanding advantage, Dennehy and Stewart teamed up to close out the set in style. Dennehy fired three late kills and Stewart tacked on two more to go along with back-to-back aces to cap off a 25-15 victory.

With the momentum completely on Delaware’s side, the squad never looked back in the third. Following an early 3-3 tie, the Hens took advantage of kills by Alker, Dennehy, and LaLonde as well as a smoking ace from Erickson to take a 10-5 lead heading into an NU timeout.

Although Northeastern put a minor scare into Delaware after pulling within one at 11-10, UD took off again. Alker and Erickson helped lead the charge as the two standouts chipped in with a pair of kills and teamed up for a block to give the Hens a nice 20-15 cushion.

After Gibson followed with a blast from the back row and Stewart added another crushing blow with her 10th kill of the contest, a shot by Dennehy gave the team match-point at 24-17. Northeastern held off the surging Hens for one rally, but the Hens eventually capitalized on a service error to clinch a 25-18 victory and a three-set sweep.

Jess Chason had another strong performance, posting 34 assists while helping the squad finish with an outstanding .299 hitting percentage. LaLonde also had eight kills and three blocks, while Gibson and Erickson had a pair of aces.

Northeastern was led by Britney Brown, who filled up the stat sheet with 12 kills, eight assists, four digs, and three blocks. Jessica Tkachuk also had 15 assists and eight kills for the Huskies.

Delaware will return to action on Friday when the squad hits the road for a 7 p.m. match at UNC Wilmington.