HALIFAX, N.S. - The Axewomen volleyball team completed the AUS-RSEQ interlock tournament with two wins among five games against the RSEQ conference teams including McGill, UQAM, Sherbrooke, Laval and Montreal.
The Axewomen opened the tournament on Friday againt Laval, losing 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 18-25 and 16-25). Axewomen standouts included Sarah Ross who posted a game high 15 kills, while teammate Carolotta Frasca added 12.
Ahead 17-12 in the first set, the Axewomen allowed Laval to creep closer, tying the game at 17 after a 5 point Rouge et Or run. Three kills by Laval's Alice Coultier along with a bad set gave Laval a first set win.
Acadia grabbed 25-21 second set win after trailing the entire game, the Axewomen closed the game to 20-17 Laval and then capitalized on kills from Fiona McGuinty and two from Carlotta Frasca. Frasca concluded the set with two service aces.
In the third set, the Axewomen trailed Laval for the entire game, losing 25-17. The fourth and final set loss, Acadia once again trailed for the games entirety.
In Acadia's second match of the opening Friday, the Axewomen swept visting Sherbrooke Vert et Or 3-0. Axewoman Carlotta Frasca had 13 kills in the match and first year outside hitter Michaela Sabean added 10 with a 0.562 hitting efficiency.
The first set was close with the Axewomen prevailing 28-26 while the second set was close again with Acadia once again topping the Vert et Or 25-23. Acadia maintained the lead in the third, defeating Sherbrooke 25-20 and sweeping the match against the CIS No. 8 ranked Vert et Or.
Acadia's third match of the weekend was on Saturday at 11:00 am against the then No. 7 ranked McGill Martlets. After the weekend of sweeping AUS competition, the Martlets moved up in the CIS rankings to No. 5. this week.
Frasca posted the highest kill count with six in the 4 set loss to McGill. Losing the first game 25-12n and the second game 25-17, the Axewomen bounced back with a 26-24 win in the third set but fell short in the fourth, trailing 10-4 in the early goaing the Axewomen closed the gap to 15-11 before losing 25-17.
Acadia faced UQAM on Saturday night - the fourth match in just over 24 hours for the Axewomen. The Axewomen loss three straight sets to the unranked Citadins. Forced errors was the storyline for the Axewomen as they posted 22 kill errors, eight service errors, five return errors and three block errors.
The highlight of the weekend, after posting one win in four matches was a 3-1 win over the CIS No. 5 ranked Montreal Carabins in the Sunday morning contest.
The victory came with a 25-23 opening set win followed by a 25-17 loss in the second game. Sets three and four were two point wins - 25-23 and 26-24 Acadia wins.
Trailing 18-12 in the first set, the Carabin gained ground with several attack errorsby by the Axewomen combined with timely kills by Montreal.
Tied at 20-20, it was a war of errors by both teams. A kill by Fiona McGuinty and a Montreal attack error ended the set 25-23 for Acadia.
Acadia trailed for the entire second set, losing 25-17 to Montreal.
Acadia pushed out to a 13-7 lead in the third game. Montreal steadly fought back, tying the game at 23 but a kill by rookie Lauryn Renzella followed by a Sarah Ross service ace game the Axewomen a 25-23 third set win.
Acadia was able to end the match with a 3-1 win with a strong 15-9 lead in the eventual fourth and final game. Once again the Carabin struggled back to within two points at 24-22 Acadia, but a service ace by Carlotta Frasca followed by a service error and then a Renzella service ace ended the game at 26-24.
Axewomen head coach Michelle Wood was happy with the two impressive wins but was frustrated with the lack of focus. "We were successful against Montreal and Sherbrooke because we were more focused on executing on our side of the court. We didn't get distracted with who they were or what they were doing. We put the pressure on our opponent leading the majority of every set."
Wood added, "Unfortunately we didn't show up in select matches this weekend that I believe we could have capitalized on. We lacked leadership and enough individual contributions to get a team win."
The Axewomen return to conference play on Friday, January 17 at home against UNB at 7:00 pm.