By Mark Moffat
In U SPORTS men's volleyball exhibition action at the Dalplex in Halifax, the Dalhousie Tigers defeated the Saskatchewan Huskies in straight sets.
The first set saw a back and forth battle in the beginning with neither team giving an inch. The Huskies opened a gap of 11-8 midway through the first set, but that didn't last as the see-saw play continued until the Tigers pulled ahead 21-18. The Huskies put up a late fight to reduce this lead to 23-21, but Dalhousie bounced back to take the first set 25-22.
In the second set, the Tigers got off to a good start by taking an early 7-3 lead, however, the Huskies managed to respond well by tying the set at 12 apiece. From there, the two squads traded points to steer the set into a series of ties until 26-26. From here, the Tigers were able to get two consecutive points to take the second set 28-26.
The third set started much like the first as it went to a quick 3-3 tie. Dalhousie managed to break away, taking a 9-6 lead. After some more evenly-matched play, The Tigers held a 14-11 lead heading into a time out. After navigating through some more even play, the Tigers took a 22-19 lead before finally clinching the match by winning the third set 25-20.
Dalhousie was led by Jeffrey Walton (Sudbury, ON) with a match high 14 kills, followed by Matthew Donovan (London, ON) with 10. When it came to blocks, Donovan had four, while Matthew Woods (Halifax, NS) had three. For the Huskies, Dylan Mortensen (Swift Current, SK) topped his team with 13 kills, followed by Colin Fraser (Saskatoon, SK) with 10. Mason Scott (Oxbow, SK) had two blocks for Saskatchewan.
Both teams face off tomorrow night at 6:00 pm AST.