Vydykhan leads Tiger to win over Sea-Hawks

St. John's, NL - The Dalhousie Tigers defeated the Memorial Sea-Hawks 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-13) at the fieldhouse on Friday night.

The game's first point went to the Tigers on a kill from Charlotte Arsenault. The first set was tightly contested as the teams stayed within 2 points. The Sea-Hawks took their first lead of the game through a kill from Lydia Grawer and led 9-6 after four unanswered points. The Tigers returned to tie the game with consecutive kills from Talia Vydykhan.

The set continued to be tightly contested until the Sea-Hawks took a 14-10 lead, forcing the Tigers to call a timeout to halt the Sea-Hawks. The Tigers fought back to tie the game 16-16 through kills that split through Memorial's deep line.

Unsuccessful tips from both sides kept the teams from taking a commanding lead as the first set was all square at 20-20 going into the home stretch. Two kills from Nella Woelfel and a defensive mishap from her serve gave the Sea-Hawks a 23-21 lead. The Tigers returned with 3 consecutive points to take a 24-23 lead and force a Sea-Hawks timeout. A block from Grace Calnan and Amelia Hartnett gave the Tigers the first set 25-23.

The first point of the second set again went to the Tigers from a block by Vydykhan and Hartnett. The Sea-Hawks rebounded with 3 points before 3 consecutive blocks from the Tigers off impressive digs from the Sea-Hawks ended in a Tigers point. The Tigers and Sea-Hawks traded points back and forth until the Seahawks called a timeout after the Tigers four unanswered points gave them an 11-7 lead.

The Tigers continued to hold their lead with multiple errors from the Sea-Hawks to give the Tigers a commanding 15-10 lead. A kill by Taylar Johnston got the Sea-Hawks back on the board but were halted by an unfortunate injury to Memorial's leading scorer Grawer at 15-12.

The Sea-Hawks took a timeout after the Tigers took an 18-13 lead. A kill from Halle Wirth and two attack errors from the Tigers got the Sea-Hawks back within 2. The Tigers coasted to a 25-19 win in the second set, outscoring the Sea-Hawks 7-2 in the latter stages of the set, with 3 kills coming from Vydykhan.

A service ace from Wirth opened the scoring in the third set. Multiple kills from Paris Stewart, Kasandra Trenke, and Hartnett helped give the Tigers a 6-3 lead resulting in a Memorial timeout.

The Tigers continued to dominate the third set with another kill from Stewart, and three attack errors from the Sea-Hawks to give the Tigers a commanding 10-3 lead, forcing another Memorial timeout. The Sea-Hawks finally stopped the Tiger's 7-0 run with a kill from Johnston. More errors continued to plague the Seahawks in the set as they found themselves down 15-6.

The Sea-Hawks found some rhythm in the middle part of the set with kills from Wirth, Johnston, and Woelfel, as well as a tip from Teagan Penner but remained well behind the Tigers 19-11. Service aces from Woelfel and Penner gave the Seahawks two more points, but the damage from the early part of the set was too much to overcome as the Tigers took the set 25-13.

Vydykhan would end the game with a team-high 11 kills for the Tigers. 

The Seahawks take on the Tigers again tomorrow to finish off their two-game series. The game will start at 1:00 PM NST and can be watched online on AUStv.