Volleyball Tigers drop first match of semifinal series
Justin Cross had eight kills in the Tigers 3-0 loss to the Sherbrooke Vert et Or Friday night in RSEQ playoff action in Quebec.
By Amelia St. John
The Sherbrooke Vert et Or men's volleyball team swept the Dalhousie Tigers 3-0 in their first semifinal game of the RSEQ Championship Friday night.
Dalhousie pushed through a tough first set at 25-13. Sherbrooke started off with Jonothan Portelance at serve, which put them up six points with key kills from Yoan David and Julian Vanier. Portelance also delivered two aces in a row. Justin Cross answered on Portelance's seventh serve of the set, with a crucial kill which put the Tigers on the scoreboard, though Dalhousie was unable to wrestle back the lead of the first.
Dalhousie was able to break Sherbrooke's rhythm during the second set, challenging their attacks and applying pressure to put Sherbrooke at the defence. Both teams exchanged points for the first couple of plays of the set. When Yoan David took serve, Sherbrooke started to gain momentum to which Dalhousie responded with a timeout at 7-4.
After this mini break, the Tigers fought back with key serves from Quinton Dowling. Julian Vanier answered when he delivered two aces in a row which put Sherbrooke up 16-12. While Sherbrooke stayed in a two-point lead for the remainder of the set, the two teams flip flopped back and forth.
The second set was tense, with Dalhousie nipping at Sherbrooke's heels – who took the second set, 25-21.
The Tigers took this momentum into the third set starting off with a nice set from Dowling which allowed Josh DeYoung to go for the kill off a serve from Sherbrooke. Dalhousie established a quick four-point lead with Sartaj Sidhu at serve.
After a strategic timeout called by Sherbrooke, the Vert et Or were able to put themselves on the board and wrestle back the lead. Portelance set up David for a strong kill to break Sidhu's serving streak. When Sherbrooke went up 5-4, the Tigers called a timeout, but the Vert et Or were able to maintain their edge even after the break. Sherbrooke took the third and final set 25-13.
Yoan David dominated Sherbrooke's scoring with 13 kills, four digs and two blocks. Justin Cross had eight kills and four digs for the Tigers with Michael Donovan chipping in seven kills and five digs of his own.
Both teams will play again Saturday at 4 pm to determine the semifinal winner who will continue on in the RSEQ tournament.