Acadia beats Dalhousie in five sets

Written by Joe Thomson

The Acadia women's volleyball team beat Dalhousie 3-2 (27-25, 27-25, 15-25, 13-25, 15-13) in a matchup of the two top seeds in the AUS on February 4, in Halifax.

The two teams traded points early in the match as Acadia looked more than up to the challenge of taking down the AUS' top seed. Jenna Lake (Conception Bay South, NL) provided the offence for the Axewomen, racking up kill after kill, while Sydney Zakutney's (Ottawa, ON) defence kept creating extra opportunities for their attack. Both sides continued to battle until a huge kill from Acadia's Taylor Witty gave the Axewomen a 27-25 win.

The second set was a defensive showcase as both teams came up with timely digs and loud blocks that extended rallies. Lucy Glen-Carter (Toronto, ON) continued her spectacular season, recording five kills in the set. Dalhousie quickly found themselves behind the eight ball though, as Wesley-Ann Bailey's (Ottawa, ON) kill gave the Axewomen another 27-25 set victory.

The Tigers were able to rally in the third set, coming up with plenty of big plays and finally pinpointing the weaknesses in Acadia's defence. Dalhousie setter Brett Bolden (Fredericton, NB), who leads the conference in assists, was instrumental in keeping the Tigers offence humming. Bolden set Glenn-Carter up for a whopping seven kills in the set as the Tigers cruised to a 25-15 victory.

The Tigers took the fourth set behind continued excellence at the net from Glenn-Carter as well as Grace Calnan (Dartmouth, NS) who finished the fourth set with an astronomical .733 hit percentage.

Dalhousie dug themselves a whole early in the fifth set, going down by six points. Zakutney continued to be the lynchpin of the Axewomen's defence as she fought to get her hands on every ball she could, piling up digs in the process. Dalhousie fought hard to bring themselves back into the game but a net error on the final point of the game gave the Axewomen their first win over the Tigers of the season.

Lake was named Subway player of the game for Acadia after totaling 16 kills and 14 digs in the win.

Acadia and Dalhousie will both hit the road next Friday as the Axewomen face off against UNB in Fredericton, while the Tigers square off against les Aigles Bleues in Moncton.