Huskies drop tough five-set loss to UNB

(Halifax, N.S.)—The UNB Varsity Reds upended the Saint Mary's Huskies in five sets on Sunday afternoon, 25-17, 25-20, 27-29, 25-19, 15-9.

A trio of Varsity Reds had double-digit kills in the win - Megan Kuciak (Ottawa, Ont.) and Kristen Burns (Mississauga, Ont.) had 11 and Julia Diemert 10 (Egbert, Ont.) – who improve to 3-15 and have six conference points.

Shelby Charlton (Strathroy, Ont.) paced the Huskies with eight kills in the loss, as SMU falls to 9-7 and sit in third place with 19 AUS points.

Tied 8-8 in the first set, the Varsity Reds went on a 5-1 run to pull ahead 13-9 and two UNB hitting errors cut their lead in half, 13-11. Up 16-13, UNB went on a 5-0 run and led 21-13 and closed out the set, winning 25-17.

The second set saw UNB take a 7-3 early lead when Saint Mary's  went on a 6-1 run, taking a 9-8 lead. A 4-2 run saw the Varsity Reds regain the lead at 13-10 before improving on their lead down the stretch, 12-10, taking the set 25-20.

UNB jumped out to a 5-1 lead and SMU battled back, taking a 9-8 lead before the V-Reds proceed on a 6-2 spurt, taking back a 15-10 cushion. Tied up 16-16, SMU had a 5-4 run and led 21-10 and closed out the set 29-27.

A 7-1 early UNB lead in the fourth set had the Huskies down early when a 3-2 run had SMU trailing 10-3. A 14-6 Saint Mary's run put the Huskies up 17-16 when a 2-1 UNB run had the V-Reds up 18-17. SMU closed out the set on an 8-1 run and took it 25-19, setting up a fifth and deciding set.

Early in the fifth, both teams took 2-0 runs and were tied 6-6. A 5-0 run by UNB put the Varsity Reds up 11-6 and they used a 4-3 run to close out the set 15-9 and took the match 25-17, 25-20, 27-29, 25-19, 15-9.

Kristina Alder (Brampton, B.C.), Maddie Clarke (Ottawa, Ont.) and Erin Smith (Moncton, N.B.) had seven kills apiece for Saint Mary's while Erica Dowling (Lower Sackville, N.S.) had six.

Charlton and Dowling are fifth-year players and played their last regular-season home game at the Homburg Centre for Saint Mary's while Smith is a fourth-year player.

The UNB Varsity Reds host Moncton (7-8, 14 points) February 12^th at 2 p.m.

Saint Mary's hits the road for their last three regular-season games – February 10^th versus Acadia (3-15, six points), February 11^th versus No. 7 Dalhousie (16-1, 32 points), and February 18^th versus UNB.

Saint Mary's University is hosting the 2017 Subway AUS Women's Volleyball Championship March 3^rd-4^th on campus in the Homburg Centre.

Dominic Nolasco, SMU Communications

Photo Mona Ghiz, Ghiz Photography