(FREDERICTON, NB) This time, the UNB Varsity Reds held on.
They built a 2-0 lead on the Universite de Montreal Carabins, on route to a 3-1 victory, with scores of 25-20, 25-23, 21-25 and 25-17.
The win came about 16 hours after UNB blew a 2-0 lead, in a 3-2 loss to Laval.
"That was a lot better than last night(Friday)," said Varsity Reds' outside hitter Cody Timmons. He admits the VReds have, in the past, been pushed around when leading. "Teams have pushed back and we don't feel the need to pick up our game, when they pick it up, so it was very nice to see Montreal take that third set and then us push back and do really well in the fourth."
Montreal opened the scoring in the first set, but UNB quickly took control. They built leads of 5-3, 12-9 and 17-13, largely on strong defensive play by Eivind Anderson, who finished the match with 18 kills.
Up 24-20, Kent Doucette set up Ryan Colpitts for a kill that earned UNB the first set win.
"It's a big win for us, for sure," said Doucette. "To come off of that tough loss, last night, the guys played really well, everyone fought, it feels good."
The Carabins jumped out to a 2-0 lead to start the second set, but UNB rallied. The two teams traded points much of the rest of the set. They were tied at 9, 10, 12, 14 and 17, before the VReds surged to a 23-20 lead.
Montreal scored the next two points.
Another Colpitts kill sealed the 25-23 win for UNB.
The home side led the third set, briefly, but the Carabins seized control mid-way through.
Philippe Carrier's kill pushed Montreal's lead to 20-15 and a Colpitts service error gave them a 24-19 edge.
Gabriel Chancy set up Alyson Francillon's kill that gave Montreal a 25-21 win and trimmed the UNB lead to 2-1.
Pascal McCarthy had a service ace and forced three quick attack errors as the Varsity Reds jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the fourth set.
UNB extended the lead to 14-7 and 19-12, on a kill by Timmons.
McCarthy and Sam Alves had a kill each and combined to block an attack that earned UNB's final point in a 25-17 fourth set win.
Cody Timmons and Alyson Francillon were named the Subway players of the game for their respective squads.
"It's definitely a confidence booster going into tonight," said Timmons. "We're looking forward to going into a fight against Sherbrooke."
The Varsity Reds close out the interlock weekend on Saturday night.
They take on the Sherbrooke Vert et Or, at the Richard J. Currie Center, at 8:00PM.
In other early games on Saturday, Laval blanked Memorial 3-0. Bruno Lortie was named the Subway player of the game for the Rouge et Or, while Kevin Delahunt took that honour for the Sea Hawks.
The Dalhousie Tigers scored a 3-1 win over Sherbrooke, in a game played at the Lady Beaverbrook Gym.
Adam Spragg was Dalhousie's Subway player of the game. Remy Chauvet was Sherbrooke's.
Dal and Laval meet in a 6:00PM match, at the Currie Center.
Montreal and Memorial face-off at 8:00PM, at the Beaverbrook Gym.