Trenke leads Tigers to win over Sea-Hawks

ST. JOHN'S, NL - After a hard fought battle, the Memorial Sea-Hawks lose to the Dalhousie Tigers after 4 sets with a final devastating score of 25-15, on Friday evening at the Field House on the Hardwood at 7 p.m. November 8th, 2024.

 The Sea-Hawks open up strong today, securing the first few points of the match for themselves. The first set goes to the Sea-Hawks 25-22, with highlights from Courtney Hodder in the middle, stuck in a huge matchup with Tigers Grace Canlan, setting a wall on the other side. Memorial's Lydia Grawer makes waves with her serving accuracy, creating plays and acing the visitors with some easy points to start off the match, but the Tigers were kept in play for the majority of those serves as their libero Alessandra Nadalini has coverage over every ball that comes onto their side, accompanied by Talia Vydykhan on reception, controlling the ball and allowing the Tigers' setter, Quinn McAleer to create some huge hitting opportunities. The Sea-Hawks manage to win the set as the combination of Karen Greek with hands and Taylar Johnston is devastating, scoring multiple shots right behind the opposing setter McAleer in the second position on the court, often a spot of difficulty for a setters defence if not covered properly.

The Dalhousie Tigers manage to secure the second set 25-15, reversing the atmosphere that the Sea-Hawks were trying to push early. Finding momentum with Calnan in the middle block, the Tigers really cleaned up their play since the first set not making nearly as many attacking errors as the previous set. Capitalising on Memorial's errors on reception, Vydykhan finds her targets for service and racks up the points quickly. Sea-Hawks Greek plays a very aggressive ball at the net, often pushing the ball to the far 1st position on the court trying to force a free ball back, but the Tigers defence stays braced for this type of rebuttal, forcing a similar play of their own as McAleer stays vigilant on the attack, looking for holes either right behind the block or deeper in the corners of the court. The Final score of the second set is 25-15, as the Tigers the set winning point against the Sea-Hawks off of the block and out, famously forcing the Sea-Hawks to play a tough defence at the net, but capitalising on the shots that go just off of the block and out due to tricky placement from the Tigers on attack.

The Dalhousie Tigers secure the third set of five with a tight score of 25-22. The Sea-Hawks find a lot of leverage over the visitors when they are on attack, with Hodder scoring down the line now swinging from the left side, and as Taylar Johnston scores with accurate placement right behind the setter and the block, choosing her shots carefully with great sets from Greek, making every pass look like a 3. Dalhousie broke away from the Sea-Hawks with their expert service, as McAleer proves her precision as she picks off the host's end line, forcing scrappy free ball back and allowing for big hits coming back on their attack, with either Calnan or Vydykhan often scoring straight down the middle. Even with both Sea-Hawks Hodder and Grawer scoring multiple aces, the Sea-Hawks lose this set to the Tigers 25-22 coming very close, but a final kill from Tigers Ella Hornby seals the deal for the visitors, keeping the pressure on, looking to finish this game in 4 sets.

The Dalhousie Tigers managed a third and final amount of set wins in the fourth set of play, with a repeat score of 25-15. The Sea-Hawks are highlighted by the continuous attempts at net from Hodder and Grawer, with Greek creating multiple crazy sets for the hitters looking to capitalise against the Tigers defence at the net. The Dalhousie Tigers have a lot of positive attributes to look forward to during this match, as Calnan dominates the middle of the court with the block and the attack, and as Stubeda finds solace on the endline, serving consistently flat and short, very unpredictable for the hosts on reception as they lose out their major points to shank passes and improper placement for the setter. The Dalhousie Tigers capitalise on the Sea-Hawks lessening morale as the visitors go on multiple streaks of 4 to 5 points unanswered in a row. The Dalhousie Tigers close out strong, forcing the Sea-Hawks to hit from the post, right where they are expecting the plays to go, closing out on the defence in the back row and securing the middle of the court as Tigers Libero Alessandra Nadalini stays ready on her toes for the short balls going just over the block.

The Dalhousie Tigers close out the match as they force a final play at the post from Sea-Hawks Hodder, getting met with a double block for the win against a discouraged Sea-Hawks team, 25-15, not finding the outcome they were looking for.