Huskies claim AUS crown

HALIFAX, NS – In the championship game of the 2010 Subway AUS Women's Volleyball Championship, the host Saint Mary's Huskies defeated the first place StFX X-Women in straight sets (25-12, 25-19, 25-14) to capture their fifth AUS banner in front of over 500 fans Sunday afternoon at the Tower in Halifax.

Alexander Keith's Tournament MVP Kerri Smit (Shubenacadie, NS) led the way for the Huskies with a game-high 12 kills, 22 digs and 3 solo blocks in the championship final. Smit, the 2008-09 AUS Most Valuable Player, also recorded 12 kills and 20 digs in a 3-0 semifinal win over the Acadia Axewomen.

Subway Player of the Game Katelyn Cross (Halifax, NS) had 31 assists in the victory while Ali Beaver (Truro, NS) recorded 11 kills and 11 digs and Amy Crider (Belcarra, BC) added 6 kills and 14 digs.

"We had a specific game plan that we stuck to today and our players remained focused all weekend on our goal of winning the AUS championship," said first year Huskies head coach Darren Russell, "We were able to learn from the loss to StFX last weekend and today we managed to keep their key players from hurting us."

Saint Mary's and StFX finished with an identical 11-7 record this season, but lost the tie-breaker for first place due to head-to-head results with the X-Women this year.

For the StFX, who were looking to capture their first ever conference championship, league MVP Catherine Thornton (Kobe, Japan) had 10 kills and 7 digs while Katherine Ryan (Halifax, NS) chipped in with 4 kills and 8 digs. Second team all-star Leah McInnis (Halifax, NS) had 13 digs and fifth year middle Alex Quinn (Halifax, NS) added 6 kills and 4 digs in a losing effort.

The AUS title is the fifth in school history for the Huskies and the first since the 2006-07 season. SMU has now won four of the past seven Atlantic conference championships, including three in the last five seasons.

The Huskies will now travel to Edmonton, AB, for the 2010 CIS Women's Volleyball Championship being hosted March 5-7 at the University of Alberta.

Alexander Keith's Championship
MVP: Kerri Smit, Saint Mary's

Tournament All-Stars:
Catherine Ryan, StFX
Katelyn Cross, Saint Mary's
Catherine Thornton, StFX
Ali Beaver, Saint Mary's
Alyssa Berry, Acadia
Tanya Paulin, UNB

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