By Daniel Simpkin
The Dalhousie Tigers beat the UNB Reds 3-0 in their home opener at the Dalplex in Halifax, Nova Scotia on Sunday October 30th.
The opening set provided a lot of action as the Tigers surged to a commanding lead brought on by Myriam Arseneau (Dieppe, NB), Grace Calnan (Dartmouth, NS) and Julie Moore (Halifax, NS).
Despite a huge kill from Catherine Burns (Fredericton, NB) that closed out a fantastic series of rallies for both teams, it was the Tigers that managed to secure an early 16-12 score at the technical timeout of the first set.
Coming out of the technical timeout, Bailey Lemieux (Fredericton, NB) notched a block at the net that propelled her team into a scoring streak that saw the Reds tie up the game at 18-18.
However, Moore put together some strong serves for Dalhousie and sparked a fantastic rally that gave Calnan the opportunity to grab the final kill and close out the first set 25-20.
Victoria Turcot (Halifax, NS) and Calnan came out strong in the second set and again helped Dalhousie secure a lead at the technical timeout up 16-13 over the Reds.
Emma Burns (Fredericton, NB) and Kristen Burns (Mississauga, ON) scored big points for the Reds throughout the entire second set, but it was Sarah Dawe (Mount Pearl, NL) that served up a crucial Dalhousie ace at 21-15 and sent the ecstatic home crowd to their feet. The Tigers then stormed through the rest of the second set and won it 25-16.
The Tigers led two sets to none heading into the third.
To begin the third set, Calnan went off for three aces and a total of ten unanswered team points during a scoring outburst that earned Dalhousie a 16-10 lead at the technical timeout.
Moore then took over in the later stages of the game with four Dalhousie kills and an ace. The Tigers won the third and final set 25-17 to take the match 3-0.
Julie Moore recorded 12 kills, 18 digs, two aces and two blocks for Dalhousie while Kristen Burns has 12 kills and nine digs for UNB.
Catherine Burns (Fredericton, NB) and Sydney Thompson (North York, ON) were awarded player of the game honours for the Reds and Tigers, respectively with Thompson earning Subway Player of the Game honours.
The Tigers and the Reds meet again tomorrow in Halifax on Sunday October 31st at 2:00pm.