Source: Ilyas Kurbanov, SMU Athletics
(Halifax, NS) – The Saint Mary's Huskies hosted the Dalhousie Tigers in their season opener at Homburg Centre on Friday evening and the Tigers came away with a 3-0 win with set scores of 23-25, 17-25 and 21-25.
The Tigers started with the serve from Victoria Turcot (Halifax, NS), but Bethany Smith (Moncton, NB) got a kill and Turcot answered back.
The first set started off in a tight battle between two teams. Victoria Haworth (Waverley, NS) got a kill from Courtney Baker (Bridgewater, NS) for the Tigers and a block to start the game 1-3 for the Tigers.
The back-and-forth continued between the two teams after Olivia Bell (Lahave, NS) got a kill from Emilla Conlon (Dartmouth, NS) and an ace from Megan Bruhm (Hubley, NS) to tie the game up at three a-piece.
The game stayed the same course till 11-11, but the momentum seemed to shift towards the Huskies' Bruhm got a kill and an ace to take the lead 13-11.
After three unanswered points, Rick Scott is forced to call a timeout to regroup.
After a back-and-forth between the teams, Smith gets another kill to extend Huskies' lead to 16-13 before game stops for the first technical timeout of the game.
Saint Mary's came out strong after the timeout and kept the lead in the game, but Turcot got a kill to regain the serve for the team and cut the lead to 18-15.
After wto kills and an ace in the first set, Bruhm got another kill for the Huskies as the second set started in a tight battle.
At the technical timeout, the Tigers led 14-16 and took the third set.
After being down two sets, the Huskies came out strong in the third. Two kills from Bell and Bruhm gave the Huskies an early 2-1 lead.
The game was tied at 3, after a long rally, Julie Moore (Halifax, NS) got a dig and two back-to-back kills to give the Tigers 3-5 lead.
The Tigers dictated the game as they extended the lead to 6-10.
After a miscommunication error, the Huskies gave up their serve, but they were quick to recuperate and get the possession back and cut the lead to three 10-13.
Dalhousie's Moore remained on fire and got another kill, but Anna Watt (Calgary, AB) answered back with one of her own and Smith continued the momentum, as they helped the team cut the Tigers' lead to two 12-14.
At the technical timeout, the Tigers led 12-16.
The Huskies came out strong after the technical timeout as Smith gets back-to-back kills to turn the momentum and force the Tigers to call a timeout.
The Huskies cut the lead down to one 15-16.
The Tigers came out strong after the timeout called by coach Scott. Micaela Sabean (Bridgewater, NS) got two kills. The Tigers forced two errors and add on to their lead 15-20.
SMU's Smith got a block after Watt's serve to cut the lead 17-20, but it wasn't enough as the Tigers forced two errors to extend their lead 18-23.
The Huskies made a substitution. Jakobie Friesen (Barrie, ON) gets an ace on the serve and force an attack error on Moore to cut down the lead 21-24, but on the final serve, Moore got a kill to end the set and the game.
Tigers took the match 3-0. Tomorrow, the Huskies visit Acadia Axewomen and the Tigers will host Acadia Axewomen on Sunday at Dalplex.