Tigers drop Huskies 3-1

(Halifax, NS) – In a matchup of cross-town rivals, the Dalhousie Tigers hosted the Saint Mary's Huskies in Friday night volleyball action. After getting down early, the Tigers veterans were able to lead their team to a 3-1 victory.

The match got off to a hot start with a kill from Sarah Dawe (Mount Pearl, NL) on the first play of the set, which was immediately countered with a kill from Olivia Bell (La Have, NS) of the Huskies.

The teams continued to trade kills in the first half of the set, neither team able to gain much of an advantage. Both sides were swinging hard, however, with Julie Moore (Halifax, NS) leading the Tigers attack, and Anna Watt (Calgary, AB) matching her kill for kill.

At the technical break, the Huskies were first to get there, as they held a slight advantage at 16-15.

Coming out of the break, the Huskies were able to string together four points in a row as the Tigers looked a little out of sorts on the defensive side of the ball with some uncharacteristic errors.

A big block from Hannah Aldcorn (Calgary, AB) and Micaela Sabean (Bridgewater, NS) was able to turn the tides for the Tigers, as they worked their way back into the set with four-straight points of their own to trail by just one at 21-20.

With two kills from Bell, the Huskies pulled away in the first set, and a final service error from the Tigers gave the Huskies a 25-23 win in the first set.

The Tigers started the second set with three big kills to jump out to a quick 5-1 lead, but once again the Huskies were able to answer back quickly with a run of their own to take over the lead with 6-straight points on kills from Bell.

Once again it was the Tigers' presence at the net that brought their offense back to life to take a 16-10 lead into the technical break with Victoria Haworth (Waverly, NS) picking up two key blocks.

The Tigers carried that momentum with them out of the break, with two crafty kills from Courtney Baker (Bridgewater, NS) leading her team to a 25-14 win in the second set to even it up at 1-1.

With a block and a kill each for Haworth and Sophia King (Brandon, MB), the Tigers once again jumped out to a 6-0 lead to force a timeout from the Huskies.

The Tigers maintained that control into the technical break, as they led 16-7 over the Huskies, with Julie Moore continuing to bring the offense for the Tigers.

The Huskies refused to go away in the set, with their presence at the net forcing the Tigers into hitting errors to avoid the block, but with a final swing from Moore finally landing, the Tigers took a 2-1 lead in the match and the third set at 25-15.

This time it was the Huskies who were able to get out to a lead in the set with Mariama Syll (Charters Settlement, NB) and Bethany Smith (Moncton, NB) both picking up bocks to frustrate the Tigers hitters and force a timeout.

Another hard swing from Haworth brought the tight set to the technical break with the Tigers leading 16-13.

The Huskies fought back out of the timeout with a kill from Bell, and a kill and block on back to back points for Syll to give the Huskies the lead back.

Courtney Baker and Julie Moore took over late in the set, with Baker collecting two aces and another 4 kills from Moore to close out the set at 25-21 and finish off the match at 3-1.

Olivia Bell led the attack for the Huskies with 14 kills, while Julie Moore finished with a game-high 18 kills to lead the Tigers in the win. Libero Catherine Callaghan (Halifax, NS) had an outstanding game for the Tigers, particularly in service reception, to earn herself the Subway Player of the Game title.

The Tigers will be back on the court next Friday when they travel to Moncton, while the Huskies will take on Acadia.