(FREDERICTON, NB) The Acadia Axewomen had to fight from two sets down to beat the Memorial Sea-Hawks 3-2 on day two of the Atlantic University Sport league tournament, in Fredericton.
Acadia won with scores of 24-26, 22-25, 25-19, 25-21, and 15-8.
"I never doubted us," said Axewomen libero Becky Dorsey (Toronto, ON). "I thought we were playing consistently throughout the game. We have a good mentality and a lot of leaders on the court. I was never worried."
Dorsey led Acadia with 19 digs in the win and was named the Subway Player of the Game.
"It was a stressful one, for sure, but I'm glad to have gone through it and glad we won."
In the opening set, the Axewomen built an early 7-2 lead which prompted an early Sea-Hawks time-out.
Down 10-4, Sea-Hawks coach John Slauenwhite took another time-out.
At the technical time-out, Acadia was up 16-6.
But the Hawks roared to life in the latter stages of the set, tying the score 23-23, taking a 25-24 lead, and then winning the set 26-24.
In the second set, Acadia once again established an early lead, going up 7-4 before the Sea-Hawks tied it 7-7.
The score was tied 12-12, 13-13, and 14-14.
At the technical time-out, the Hawks were up 16-14 and added three more after the break to go up 19-14. That triggered an Acadia time-out.
But the Memorial momentum kept building, and the Sea-Hawks went up 23-17.
Acadia made it close, but the Sea-Hawks took a 2-0 lead with a 25-22 win.
The Axewomen came to life in the third, building a 9-4 lead.
They led 16-12 at the technical time-out.
The Sea-Hawks tried to rally, but Acadia's blocking was superb, and the Axewomen won the set 25-19.
In the fourth, the Sea-Hawks went up 6-4, only to watch Acadia erase the deficit and build a 10-7 lead.
The Axewomen led 16-8 at the technical time-out.
The Sea-Hawks closed the gap to five, at 20-15, forcing an Acadia time-out, but they held on and won the fourth set 25-21.
Acadia raced out to a 5-1 lead in the fifth set, leading to a Memorial time-out.
The Axewomen pushed the lead to 8-1, and never looked back, winning the deciding set 15-8.
"They just started reading us better, and we didn't really respond," said Memorial's Kaitlyn Kuchinka (Edmonton, AB). "It's obviously very frustrating. It would've been really good to get a win. I think we have to hold on to the fact that we can play with anybody and we still have a long season ahead of us."
Lucy Glen-Carter (Toronto, ON) had a match-high 17 kills for the Axewomen, and Sydney Zakutney (Ottawa, ON) recorded 43 assists.
Katie Wagar (Halifax, NS) had a match-high 33 digs for the Sea-Hawks, and Erica Rafuse (Kingston, NS) logged 30 assists.
The Sea-Hawks, now 0-and-8, wrap up the league tournament on Sunday morning when they face Moncton. Game time is 11:00am (Atlantic Time).
The Axewomen, now 5-and-3, finish their weekend visit to Fredericton by taking on the Dalhousie Tigers.
RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics
PHOTOS BY: James West/for UNB Athletics