BOSTON, Ma.-Down two sets, the Villanova Wildcats rallied and won the next three sets to defeat the Northeastern Huskies in a heavyweight bout. Villanova improves to 4-3 on the win and Northeastern falls to 2-6.

"I hope what we got out of this is knowing that we have the ability to play at a good level and we just need to steady out," Villanova Volleyball Head Coach Josh Steinbach said.

The Wildcats got off to a solid start in the first set and led 4-1 but the Huskies continued to battle and both teams exchanged leads.Tied at 13, Northeastern went on a 4-0 run fueled by a pair of kills from Rafaella Lepenioti for a 17-13 lead. Villanova cut the deficit to 20-18 but the Huskies held on and cemented the 25-20 first set win with a service ace from Sahitya Krishnamurthy.

The second set featured another battle between Villanova and Northeastern. The Wildcats grabbed a 10-7 lead on a Northeastern service error but the Huskies countered with a 3-0 run to tie it at 10. From that point on, there were six lead changes. With a 23-21 lead, Northeastern delivered a pair of kills for the 25-21 set win and 2-0 lead in the match.
Down 2-0, Coach Steinbach made some adjustments in the lineup by using the starters from Villanova's opening weekend that ultimately paid off.

"We went back to our opening weekend lineup after set two," Steinbach said. "I'm not sure there was any magic in it, but it worked out."

Trailing 9-8, the Wildcats went on a 4-0 run powered by kills from Homer and Clare Delaplane for a 13-8 lead. The Wildcats began to put their foot on the gas with an 8-1 run to put them ahead 21-10. The lead loomed too large for the Huskies and Villanova picked up the 25-14 set win. Through three sets, Homer led with 16 kills, Kiera Booth denied the Huskies with four blocks, Averi Salvador led with 14 digs and Belle Morgan fed 19 assists for Villanova.

The fourth set was a back and forth affair with leads reaching as high as four points. With the score tied 20-20, each team would counter on every serve until the score was tied at 23 apiece. Villanova reclaimed the 24-23 lead with block assists from Booth and Morgan. The Wildcats won the fourth set with a kill from Booth to tie the match and force a fifth set.Trailing 10-9 in the fifth set, the Wildcats had a crucial 3-0 run highlighted by a kill from Homer and service ace from Maddie Schieder that forced a Northeastern timeout. The Huskies countered with two unanswered points to tie the fifth set at 12. The Wildcats called game with a 3-0 run featuring a pair of kills from Booth for the 15-12 match victory.

Homer tallied a career-high 25 kills against Northeastern, continuing her six-match streak of recording double-digit kills.

"Riley is an elite offensive player and it came out today in a big way," Steinbach said.

Inside The Box Score

• Booth recorded a season-high six blocks and added nine kills in the victory.
• Salvador registered a season-high 22 digs in the match and set up five assists.
• Morgan racked up 42 assists, her second-highest amount this season.
• Freshman Rose Crist registered eight kills which tied her season-high amount.
• Delaplane tied her season-high amount of 12 digs during the win and delivered 11 kills.
• Taryn Whittingham matched Delaplane with a season-high 12 digs of her own.

The Wildcats will take on Bryant University in the first of two matches on Saturday at 11:00 a.m.