It was a momentous night on Friday for the men’s volleyball team as the played what would be their final game at the Lady Beaverbrook Gym as they hosted the Dalhousie Tigers in game one of a three game series. (The UNB court sports will move to the Richard J. Currie Center for the 2011-12 season). In front of about 1,000 fans the Varsity Reds won a thrilling match downing the Tigers three sets to two; 26-24, 21-25, 22-25, 25-20, 15-12.
Riding their victory to the Dalplex for game two, along with the support of a number of stalwart fans, the Varsity Reds were pumped and ready – it was time to take their game to another level and claim the AUS banner from Dalhousie University who has held the trophy for twenty four straight years. Led by AUS MVP Jacob Kilpatrick the V-Reds took the Tigers again to five sets (18-25, 25-19, 25-22, 24-26, 15-12) in a nail-biter match as more than 400 volleyball fans watched the teams on the internet and several hundred watched from the stands in Halifax.
“This is a special time for UNB volleyball, our players, our supporters, and our alumni who have been with us every step. This is for those people as much as it is for us. I’ve never been more proud of a group of individuals. It’s a great day to be a Varsity Red,” said Dan McMorran who has been the head coach of the UNB team for the past seven years.
On the women’s side the UNB team completed regular season play in second place with 22 points, just six points behind Saint Mary’s the league winner with 28. This placing earned the V-Reds a first round bye at the AUS championship hosted by Cape Breton.
On Saturday the Varsity Reds pulled off a convincing win as the team passed, served, and blocked well to defeat the Tigers in semi-final play three sets to one (25-15, 16-25, 25-12, 25-14). Tanya Paulin was named player of the match while Emma Hunt had a career day with 11 kills on 14 swings to hit an amazing .714%.
In championship play the Varsity Reds took on the Huskies and pulled off a convincing 3-0 win over the top ranked team (25-9, 25-22, 25-15) to win their second AUS championship in four years and a league leading 19 AUS women’s volleyball banners. AUS all-star Jill Blanchard was named the tournament’s most valuable player while Tanya Paulin was named a tournament all-star.
“On Sunday we believed we could win the match and our team executed really well all afternoon. As we did against Dalhousie, we had contributions from all our line-up, jumped out early, and kept the pressure on. We just focussed on playing each point, staying in the moment and I thought that was the key to the weekend,” commented head coach John Richard.
Both teams will now head off to CIS championships slated for the first weekend in March with the women competing at Laval and the men at Trinity Western.
Athletic director Kevin Dickie was thrilled with his teams’ performances. “The last time our volleyball teams won a championship in the same year our coaches were just youngsters. UNB is one of the longest standing post-secondary institutions in North America and this is one of the most special days in the history of the athletics program. We couldn’t be more proud of our teams than we are today,” commented Dickie.