The Dalhousie Tigers (9-6) came away with a crucial 3-0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-19) victory against the UNB Varsity Reds (8-7) today at the Dalplex. Both teams entered the game with identical 8-6 records, and the win puts the Tigers in sole possession of second place in the AUS. The Tigers are now just two points back of the Saint Mary's Huskies for first place in the AUS, while the Varsity Reds now sit in third place.
The Tigers have now won an impressive seven games in a row, while the Varsity Reds have lost two of their last three games.
Anna Dunn-Suen led the Tigers with a game-high 15 kills to go along with eight digs. Libero Marisa Mota had another strong game defensively with 13 digs. First-year star Mieke Dumont had seven kills and ten digs in the win.
Janie-Eve Doucet and Vanja Mitrovic each had seven kills to lead the Varsity Reds in the loss, while Paige Nelmes had a game-high 15 digs. Victoria Eadle had six kills to go along with five digs.
The Tigers jumped out to an 8-2 lead early in the first set, but the Varsity Reds fired back with a 6-1 run to trim the lead to 9-8. The Tigers came back with a 7-1 run of their own and they kept up the momentum as they took the first set 25-18.
It was more of the same in the second set as the Tigers opened up a huge 11-2 lead. The Varsity Reds tried to rally back and they made it a 14-6 game, but that's as close as they would get as the Tigers ran away with the second set 25-13.
Looking to claw their way back into the game. the Varsity Reds were tied with the Tigers 7-7 early in the third set, but the Tigers shot out to a 23-12 lead as they looked to finish off the game. The Varsity Reds answered back with a 7-0 run of their own, but their comeback attempt was cut short as the Tigers took the set 25-19 to win the game 3-0.
The Varsity Reds will look to end their season on a winning note when they take on the Cape Breton Capers next Saturday in Sydney, while the Tigers will finish their season on Thursday when they square off against the first-place Saint Mary's Huskies.