Carabins Colour REDS
(MONTREAL, QC) The UNB REDS fought hard but were unable to beat the Université de Montreal Carabins in RSEQ men's volleyball action on Saturday, dropping a 3-0 decision.
The Carabins won with scores of 25-19, 25-20, and 25-20.
"Montreal is another veteran team that put a lot of pressure on our side-out game with their spin servers, but I thought we held our own for the most part," said REDS' head coach Dan McMorran.
In the first set, Montreal jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead before extending that to 7-1.
The home team then used a 6-0 run to push their lead to 14-4, forcing an early UNB timeout.
The REDS scored eight of the next 11 points to trim the Montreal lead to 17-12.
On the strong serving of Rafael Hilario, the REDS put together a 4-0 run to make the score 19-16, but Montreal did just enough to hang on and win the set 25-19.
In the second, with UNB up 7-5 early, Montreal went on a 4-0 run to go in front 9-7.
Another 4-0 run gave the Carabins a 13-8 lead.
Down 23-13, the REDS fought back.
Riding a solid service run by Noah Boudreau, UNB closed the gap to 23-19.
Once again, Montreal was able to hold off the surging REDS and win 25-20.
The third set was evenly contested with both teams trading small leads to the halfway point.
Montreal scored the final five points to win 25-20 and complete the straight sets victory.
"We played very similarly in both our matches this weekend," said Coach McMorran. "We play at a great level but are unable to sustain that level for the entire match. To win, we need to compete better in key situations."
The REDS see their next action on February 3rd, when they visit Dalhousie for the first of a two-game weekend series.
"We are working hard and making progress as we battle for the last RSEQ playoff spot," said Coach McMorran.
STORY BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics
PHOTO: File