The UNB Saint John Seawolves women’s volleyball team picked up a win over Halifax’s Université Sainte-Anne Dragons in their first home game after the holidays.
The four-set match took place on Saturday evening in front of a peppy home crowd.
One of UNB Saint John’s setters, Alannah Hansen, was out with an ankle injury, which shortened the Seawolves’ bench.
The Seawolves had a slow start in the first set but outside hitter Indigo Clement got the ball rolling for her team with the first kill.
Midway through, the score was tied 12-12. A huge UNB Saint John block kept their momentum high and forced the Dragons to take their first time out. Kills from Montanna Meyer and Clement led the Seawolves to victory, 25-18.
Another slow start in the second set allowed the Dragons to race to a 14-5 lead. The Seawolves weren’t able to land many hits and the Dragons capitalized on their errors.
UNB Saint John brought the score back to 23-19 but couldn’t pull ahead of their opponent who led the entire set. The Dragons kept control of the second set and another UNB Saint John error ended the set in favor of USA, 25-19.
The Seawolves regrouped after the disappointing second set and wasted no time at the beginning of the third. Three unanswered serves from the 5’10” middle Jenna DeGooyer helped drive UNB Saint John to a solid 12-4 lead.
Comfortable with their eight-point advantage, the Seawolves weren’t prepared for the Dragons to retaliate. USA went on a lengthy point streak, which included a service ace and a towering block to bring the score back to a tie at 14-14.
After closing the gap, USA was able to keep the home team scoreless and took their first lead of the set. The score was 19-15 in favor of the Dragons.
UNB Saint John was able to survive the scare and pushed back, wrapping up the nerve-racking third set 26-24.
Determined to end the match in four, powerhouses Meyer and DeGooyer notched early points for UNB Saint John.
The two teams exchanged points at the start of the set, but Seawolves’ setter Taylor McGrattan, went on a long-winded serve streak to keep her team’s momentum high.
DeGooyer landed a service ace and forced USA to take a time out. The Dragons weren’t able to knock the Seawolves off their game and UNB Saint John held their ground as the score advanced to 20-14.
The Seawolves easily settled the final set 25-16 and collected a 3-1 set win.
Clement and Meyer led the Seawolves blitz with eight kills each while the Dragons Marise Gionet had an outstanding performance with 10 digs to keep her team in the match.
UNB Saint John remains 4th place in the conference standings with a 6-4 record. USA is in an 8th place tie and their winless weekend brings their record to 1-10.
The Seawolves next match is scheduled for Saturday, January 21 at home against the third place Mount Allison Mounties. Sunday, January 22 will see them take on the Dalhousie Agricultural Campus Rams, who are tied for last place.
Both games start at 1:00pm at the G. Forbes Elliot Athletics Center, or can be live streamed at acaatv.ca.
