Laval Holds Off REDS

(FREDERICTON, NB) The Laval Rouge et Or held off the UNB REDS 3-2 in an exciting RSEQ men's volleyball match on Friday night.

Laval won with scores of 21-25, 25-22, 25-14, 21-25, and 16-14.

"We had a bad start, and the pressure was on us throughout," said Laval head coach Gino Brousseau. "We're very lucky to win tonight."

The REDS were quick to start, establishing an early 4-0 first set lead.

While the Rouge et Or pushed back, UNB maintained an advantage, building leads of 12-7 and 21-16.

A couple of Emil Pedersen (Slagelse, DEN) kills pushed UNB's lead to 23-17 and the REDS took the opening set 25-21.

Laval was quick to respond in the second set, building a 6-4 lead and never trailing on route to a 25-22 victory.

The Rouge et Or began the third set on a 3-0 run and dominated the set, winning 25-14.

Laval built a slim lead in the fourth set and held that lead until UNB moved ahead 19-18.

The REDS rode a pair of Rafael Hilario (Rio de Janeiro, BRA) kills and some strong defence to a 25-21 win, tying the match at two sets apiece.

UNB's fight continued in the deciding set as they built a 10-6 lead, only to see the Rouge et Or storm back and tie it 10-10.

Two more Hilario kills put UNB up 12-10, but, once again, Laval rallied.

Tied 14-14, Laval scored the final two points of the match to win the set 16-14 and the match 3-2.

"It's good to see how well we played and at such a high level and how we competed," said Hilario. "You could see the other side breaking down a bit, so it was close. Tomorrow, we need to keep our heads up and know that we can battle and get a win to close our season."

With the loss, the REDS are 0-15 while the Rouge et Or are now 9-5.

"The cheering was great," said Hilario, of a raucous REDS crowd. "We could feel the energy and it was flowing and moving the entire team. It helped our good performance. We need to keep the momentum and keep the energy and we can improve on this."

"For us, it's an important weekend because if we want to fight for second place and have home advantage in the semi-final, we need to win these two matches," said Brousseau. "I'm not very happy with our performance."

The REDS and Rouge et Or wrap up their weekend series on Saturday.

First serve is scheduled for 3:00pm.

RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics

PHOTOS BY: James West/for UNB Athletics