Tigers fall to Huskies in home opener

By Ryan Hyndman

The Dalhousie Tigers dropped a hard-fought match 3-1 (22-25, 25-14, 19-25, 14-25) to their Halifax city rivals, the Saint Mary's Huskies at Dalplex on Friday night.

The Tigers got off to a good start, beginning the first set on a 5-1 run, which included a great block from Kasandra Trenke (Calgary, AB). The Huskies would fight to close the gap, but the four-point gap would remain as the set progressed to 8-4. The Huskies would continue to push through, quickly evening the set up at 9-9. The Tigers would once again bounce back, going on their largest run of the first set to take a five-point 18-13 lead. Another big block from Grace Calnan (Dartmouth, NS) would bring the Tigers within striking distance of a one-set lead. After a couple of unforced errors from the Tigers however, the pesky Huskies would go on a run to take the first set by a score of 25-22.

The Huskies would keep it rolling into the second set quickly gaining a 6-3 lead. A kill from Taylor Lougheed would see the Huskies maintain the three-point lead up to 8-5. Kyla Clubb (Springdale, ARK) would spark a run for the Tigers as Dalhousie fought back to a 13-10 lead. The Tiger's lead would grow to 17-11 as they got closer to evening up the match. The longest rally of the match was ended by the Tigers Lucy Glen-Carter (Toronto, ON) as the lead grew to 21-14. The Huskies would not record another point as the Tigers would even the match up at one set each after a 25-14 set win.

The first point of the third set would drop for the Huskies as Olivia Bell (La Have, NS) was searching to get Saint Mary's back on track, sparking a 5-0 run. The Huskies would maintain the lead as the set became 11-7. A massive block from Megan Bruhm (Hubley, NS) would further the lead to 13-8 for Saint Mary's. The Tigers would get as close to a three-point gap, but the Huskies would take the third set by a score 25-19.

The fourth set started with back-and-forth action that led to the teams even at 3-3. From there it was all Huskies, jumping to a 10-3 lead. Another big kill from Bell would see the Huskies carry their seven-point lead to 17-10. A couple more, nice plays including a block from Paige Deering (Calgary, AB), would seal a St. Mary's set victory by a score of 25-14 and a match victory 3-1.

Olivia Bell took home the Subway Player of the game honors for the Huskies.

Saint Mary's is back in action against Moncton on Saturday at 7:00pm as they look to stay in the win column.

The Tigers will look to get in the win column as they host Moncton on Sunday at 2:00pm.