(FREDERICTON, NB) The losing has come to an end for the UNB Varsity Reds.
The VReds scored their first win of the season Wednesday night, beating the Universite de Moncton Aigles Bleus 3-2.
The win ended the Varsity Reds 0-15 start to the season.
In a tight contest, UNB won with scores of… 16-25, 25-21, 20-25, 25-23 and 15-8.
"To finally get a win… it means a lot to us," said third year libero Maggie McLenahan(Oromocto, NB). "Being in our home gym, one of our last times here, we decided to pick up our socks and represent… and play, not just for the crowd, but for UNB. It was very much personal for us."
McLenahan led the Varsity Reds with 15 digs and was named the Subway Player of the Game.
Megan Kuciak(Ottawa, ON) had a good night too, registering 14 kills, 14 digs, 6 service aces, and 20.5 points.
Christelle Bertin(Beresford, NB) led Moncton with 13 kills and a game-high 19 digs.
Rachelle Lemoine(St. Bonafice, MB) contributed 13 kills and Catherine Guitard(Madran, NB) had 17 digs.
"They played really well today and we just didn't play consistently enough to win that match," said Aigles Bleus head coach Monette Boudreau-Carroll. "We didn't take them lightly, we knew they played well here, we knew they were going to come out strong. We never make excuses, we don't deserve to win this match, they deserve it and to me, that's part of sports."
The win came as a relief for Varsity Reds interim head coach James Cress.
"It feels really good," said Cress. "We've continued to get better and better, and finally we were able to maintain that level that we've been working at throughout the whole match."
"It feels amazing," said Kuciak. "To finally get all that hard work, to come out and show that we can do this, it feels really good."
The second year hitter feels, despite 15 consecutive losses, that the team has been building.
"The biggest thing is that we came out confident and pushed from the beginning," she said. "Especially in that fifth set. In the fifth set we said let's go, this one's ours and we came out firing… and that was the difference."
The Aigles Bleus are now 7-and-7, good for fourth place in the Atlantic University Sport standings.
UNB is 1-and-15.
Moncton has to regroup ahead of Saturday's home match against the Saint Mary's Huskies.
The Varsity Reds will look to capitalize on their momentum when they visit Acadia the same day.