Tigers fall to Rouge et Or

The second-seeded Laval Rouge et Or defeated the fifth-seeded Dalhousie Tigers 3-0 (27-25, 25-15, 25-20) Saturday afternoon at Sexton Memorial Gymnasium.

Laval took the first half of the back-to-back 3-1 Friday night at Dalplex.

Laval scored the first kill of the set from a block from Max Losier (Ottawa, ON).

Justin Cross (Winnipeg, MB) followed up Losier's kill with two of his own. Cross' two kills were too hot to handle for Laval, getting Dal off to the races.

Laval got off to a 9-6 lead after a powerful spike from Nicolas Fortin (Clermont, QC). While Laval had the lead, no team was exactly dominating, as the Tigers clawed back to make it 9-8. Cross was on fire to start the match with three of the Tigers eight kills.

The Tigers came back to tie it 11-11 after a rally as an off-speed kill from Lucas Condon-Oldreive (Porters Lake, NS) gave Laval difficulties.

The Tigers began to roll, scoring four straight points. Tyler Wiseman (Clarenville, NL), set up by Thomas Watchman (Edmonton, AB), gave the Tigers a 15-14 lead in the set.

It remained tight through the set as the Tigers took a 20-18 lead with a service ace from Jacob Oyler (Halifax, NS). Up to this point, Oyler led the set in kills with five. Laval's Fortin had a team-high of four.

Back-to-back kills from Fortin inched Laval closer to the Tigers, with Dal still leading 23-22.

Laval tied the set 24-24 with a kill from Losier and another from Fortin. 

Laval came back to win the set 27-25 with a kill from Jonathan Girard (Donnacona, QC) and a bad set from the Tigers.

Fortin was sensational in the first set, recording seven kills.

Laval brought their momentum from the first set into the second, earning an early 5-1 lead with two kills from Girard.

The Tigers clawed back, cutting the lead to three points later in the set. Oyler scored the service ace to make it an 11-8 game.

Watchman scored a beautiful off-speed kill for the Tigers. Laval still led 15-10 in the set, maintaining a strong lead. 

Laval won the second set 25-15.

Laval got settled early in the set, getting out to a 10-5 lead. The Tigers scored three straight points to make it an 11-8 game. 

Despite going down 2-0 in the match, the Tigers continued to fight in the third set, tying the set 17-17 with five straight points and a kill from Oyler.

Laval closed out the set 25-20 from an error, with Fortin recording the kill prior.

Fortin had a game-high 15 kills in Laval's victory.

Oyler had the most kills for Dal, with 10 in the loss.

The Tigers return to action on Feb. 16 to take on Montreal.