Baker puts up 50 assists in 3-1 win over Sea-Hawks

Game recap by: Kirk Jessome

(Halifax, NS) – In the second match of a three-game set, the Dalhousie Tigers once again hosted the Memorial Sea-Hawks in women's volleyball action. The Tigers found themselves trailing early in sets, but never let them get out of reach, and as a result were able to come away with the 3-1 win in this one.

The Tigers opened up the match swinging hard, but both sides were having some troubles with control early. Victoria Haworth (Waverley, NS) brought the Tigers out of the slump with a crafty tip to earn the kill, followed by fantastic serving that led to the Tigers picking up seven straight points.

The Sea-Hawks picked up kills from Emma Hackett (Clarenville, NL), as well as some good positioning on block attempts forcing the Tigers hitters to go wide with their attacks.

Heading into the technical break the Tigers held the lead at 16-7.

The Tigers picked up two kills from Mieke DuMont (Kamloops, BC) out of the break, but the Sea-Hawks put together a fantastic run to bring themselves back in the set. Sarah Dawe (Mount Pearl, NL) picked up four kills in the run, with Jordan Hutchison (Kentville, NS) hammering home two as well as the Sea-Hawks found themselves down 21-19.

The Tigers immediately responded by taking the next four points in a row as they closed out the first set, taking it 25-19.

The Sea-Hawks started the second set with the same energy that they found at the end of the first, battling ahead to an early lead on big kills from Emma Hackett, as well as some great blocks from Catherine Smith (Mount Pearl, NL).

Heading into the technical timeout, the Sea-Hawks had the advantage at 16-8.

The Tigers made a run to bring themselves within four with four kills from DuMont, but the Sea-Hawks were able to maintain their lead with Alison Poynter (St. John's, NL) spreading the offense around to multiple hitters.

The Sea-Hawks closed out the second set comfortably on back to back kills coming from Sarah Dawe and Catherine Smith to take the set 25-19, and tie the match up at 1-1.

Memorial once again had a fantastic start to the set, with Jordan Hutchison placing three hard kills, helping her team jump out to a 7-3 lead.

The defense was getting it done for the Sea-Hawks, helping them to hold the edge in the set with three huge blocks.

First year Victoria Turcot (Halifax, NS) refused to let the Tigers get left behind in the set with three kills in a row for the Tigers, followed by Victoria Haworth hammering home three kills of her own.

The Sea-Hawks still held the lead in the third set however, heading into the break up 16-13.

The Tigers refused to go away in the set, battling back to take the 22-21 lead in the set on the hot hand of Emma Ciprick (Binscarth, MB).

The teams traded points back and forth in an extended set till the Tigers combined a kill from Julie Moore (Halifax, NS) with a perfectly placed serve from Ciprick for the ace to finally close out the third set with a score of 32-30.

The Sea-Hawks once again jumped out to a quick lead in the set, getting ahead 7-3, but the lead was short lived as the Tigers put together a fantastic run.

With the score tied up at 9-9, the Tigers put together 13 points in a row in incredible fashion, led by the serving of Lauren Koskowich (Calgary, AB) and the hard swinging Emma Ciprick picking up kills.

Mieke DuMont put an exclamation mark on the run for the Tigers by hammering home her game-high 20^th kill, giving the Tigers the 25-12 fourth set win, and the 3-1 victory in the match. DuMont's offensive attacks combined with her strong defensive performance with 19 digs earned her the Subway Player of the Game honour.

Courtney Baker was key for the Tigers once again, assisting on 50 points in the match for the Tigers. For the Sea-Hawks, Sarah Dawe finished with 13 kills while Emma Hackett and Kierstin Fey (Selkirk, MB) were behind her with nine apiece.

The teams will finish the weekend series with one more match tomorrow in matinee action starting at 1:00.