Strong outings from Kenneth Rauwerda and Graeme Higgins lifted the Dalhousie Tigers to a three-set sweep of the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds men's volleyball team Friday night.
The Tigers' big duo combined for 29 kills as Dalhousie won 27-25, 25-23 and 25-20, taking the first match of the weekend's two-game set at the Richard J. Currie Center.
The outcome pushed both teams to 2-2 records and into a tie atop the Atlantic University Sport conference.
"We knew that Rauwerda and Higgins were their go-to guys and they were," said UNB head coach Dan McMorran.
"When we had blocks set up, our second line defence in the back row wasn't active and ready to go. We had the matchup we wanted, we had the block we wanted, we knew when they were setting and we just didn't perform."
The Reds, despite keeping pace with the Tigers on the scoreboard, were either a step behind them at times or failing to capitalize on opportunities to create a significant lead. In McMorran's eyes, it was a game they should have won.
"To me, in each set there were points where I thought there's no way we shouldn't be up four or five points on that team," he said.
"We just didn't come out with the aggressiveness that we needed to; we didn't come out with the intensity that we needed to. We're just not executing in any department."
Offensively speaking, UNB had trouble gaining any movement with their sputtering attack. Inconsistent play from outside hitters Julio Fernandez and Matt Sweet were a point of concern for the Reds coach. The pair combined for just 15 kills, but committed six service errors - one more than the combined total of the entire Dal squad.
"The last three weeks, they seem like they've been in a bit of a slump, making errors," McMorran said.
"We had opportunities in each of the sets, but we just made unforced errors at the wrong times...We didn't show up and that's discouraging at this particular point in time."
McMorran said adjusting to their new home at the Currie centre could also be playing on the minds of his squad.
"I don't know that it's quite our home court yet," he said. "I think the guys aren't either comfortable in here or not, but there's no excuse for that."
The Reds will get a second crack at their AUS rival at 2 p.m. on Saturday. McMorran said he's going to ensure his team comes out energized and focused for round two.
"I'm going to challenge their fire...their integrity," he said. "In my estimation, we can't come out with that lack of intensity here at any time."
Women's volleyball
The UNB women's volleyball woes continued on Friday night as the Varsity Reds were downed by the Dalhousie Tigers in four sets in their home opener.
The Tigers (4-0) won 20-25, 25-18, 26-24 and 29-27 to hand the Reds (0-4) their fourth straight loss to start the 2011-12 season. Louise Facca had 14 kills and Maggie Li 13 more for Dal.
Rebecca Glancy countered with nine kills, four service aces and two blocks. Vanja Mitrovic had 12 kills, Emma Hunt 11 and Katerina Legutky 10.
"I thought that was out best effort of the season thus far in exhibition and league play," said UNB head coach John Richard. "It was good atmosphere here to play in and that's a CIS top 10 team this week in Dalhousie so I thought we had a chance to win the third set and had a chance to win the fourth."
"We could have come out of here 3-1 as easy as we lost 3-1."
The Reds visit Moncton on Saturday for a 2 p.m. start.
AUS basketball
The UNB Varsity Reds women's and men's basketball teams open their respective AUS regular seasons this weekend at the Richard J. Currie Center, taking on the Memorial Sea-Hawks of Newfoundland today and tomorrow.
Today's games are at 6 and 8 p.m. Sunday's rematches are set for 1 and 3 p.m.