Saint Mary’s top UNB Reds in 5 sets

(Wolfville, NS) The Saint Mary's Huskies picked up a hard fought 3-2 win against the UNB Reds at the off-campus site of Horton High School.

Lindsay Donovan led the way with 13 kills and a hitting efficiency of 0.407 and was named the Subway Player of the Game for her effort.

The Huskies squeezed out a 25-20 first set win that swung back and forth until the point of an UNB attack error that gave Saint Mary's a 13-12 lead. A kill by Bethany Smith pushed the lead to 14-12 and Huskies would not look back, winning the opening game.

UNB would not roll over and grabbed a convincing 25-18 second set win to tie the match at one. A kill by Kristen Burns gave the Reds a 12-11 lead that would not change hands for the remainder of the set.

Out to a 10-7 lead, a UNB attack error would give the Huskies a lead at 3-12 and would not be surrendered. Kills by Bethany Smith, Jordan Burley and Olivia Bell pushed the advantage to 17-13 Huskies. Saint Mary's would finish the set with kills by Lindsay Donovan and Jaime Burke to grab a 25-20 third set victory and 2-1 match lead.

The Reds pushed the match to a fifth and deciding set with a 28-26 win that could have gone either way. Two consecutive set ending kills by Victoria Eadle gave UNB the needed win to stay alive.

Ahead 7-4 early in the fifth, the Reds gave up lead to the Huskies on a service ace by Olivia Bell. Bell would post 4 service aces in the match – two of which came handy in the closing minutes of the fifth set. Two repeat kills by Lindsay Donovan pushed the Saint Mary's lead to 13-10 and the eventual 15-11 win.

Siobhan Fitzpatrick was named the UNB Player of the Game for her outstanding contribution of 20 kills and 12 digs. Victoria Eadle added an amazing 25 kills – 0.302 hitting percentage - in the losing effort.

The Reds complete the weekend with a 12:00 pm match against Memorial at Horton High School, while the Huskies take on Moncton at 2:00 pm.