(MONTREAL, QC) The UNB Reds men's volleyball team isn't losing sight of what lies ahead of them.
This weekend, the Reds travel to Halifax for a pair of matches against their long-time rival, the Dalhousie Tigers, the final matches of the RSEQ regular season for both teams.
For UNB, the weekend series will be part of the preparation process for the conference playoffs, and comes in the wake of a hard-fought pair of matches against the U SPORTS No. 3 Montreal Carabins last weekend.
The Reds dropped 3-1 and 3-0 matches, in Montreal, last Friday and Saturday.
"Although we battled well at times, we certainly didn't play at the level we wanted to or needed to in order to beat Montreal.," said Reds head coach Dan McMorran. "We gave ourselves some opportunities to win sets and were only able to capitalize on one of those in the two matches."
On Friday, the Reds lost a close opening set 20-25, before taking the second set 26-24.
Montreal then flexed some offensive muscle, winning the third set 25-13 and the fourth 25-19.
Connor McConnell (Hanwell, NB) led the Reds effort on Friday with 15 kills and nine digs, while Eduardo Luchese (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) added a dozen kills. Nick Glynn (Fredericton, NB) had 36 assists.
In Saturday's match, the Reds pushed their hosts in the opening set, but Montreal prevailed 26-24.
The Carabins then took the second and third sets 25-19 and 25-16.
"We came out strong on Saturday and had a 20-14 lead late in the first set, and also a set point, but allowed them to comeback," said McMorran. "Had we been able to get that first one, it certainly could have changed the tone."
McConnell was the only Red in double digits in the kills category on Saturday, with 12. Glynn contributed 20 assists and eight digs.
"While it was a disappointing weekend, we were battling some injury and illness that kept a couple players out of our lineup," said McMorran. "The positives are that we know we can beat any team in our conference, and will get another opportunity in two weeks against the same team (Montreal)."
Before that, this weekend's matches at Dal.
The Tigers have yet to win a match this season, and have been eliminated from post-season play.
"We will be busy this week, preparing for the road trip to Dalhousie," he said. "Although Dal has been eliminated, we know these will be tough matches and understand their importance to us before heading back to Montreal for the RSEQ playoffs the following week."