Last Week:
After a short week of training, UNB returned to the court against Moncton who they played on the road last Saturday afternoon winning 3-0. It marked the start of what will be three consecutive home games to finish regular season play. With the V-Reds mathematically clinching a playoff berth last weekend (for the 19th time in the past 22 seasons), UNB continued to focus on the tough task of staying within the top two positions in the conference heading into the playoffs February 18-20 in Sydney, NS. If the Varsity Reds can finish in one of the top spots it will mark the 4th time in the past 5 seasons they receive a first round playoff bye (by finishing 1st or 2nd) and guarantee them at least a semi-final playoff appearance for the 6th straight season. Third-year libero and co-captain Monica Jones is progressing well and did take warm-up but did not dress. She suffered a knee injury against Acadia back on January 8th and hasn’t played since.
MONCTON 3 @ UNB 1 (23-25, 23-25, 25-17, 14-25)
Game Notes:
-Fifth year left-side Erica Hay was UNB’s Player of the Match with 12 kills and 15 points.
-Fifth year left-side Jill Blanchard had 10 kills and 23 digs, while second year setter Amanda Bakker had 34 assist and 8 points.
-The V-Reds actually led 22-20 in set two before Moncton fought to win 5 of the next 6 rallies to take game two 25-23.
Other Conference Results on Friday:
St. FX 1 @ Dalhousie 3
Coach’s Comments:
“I thought Moncton came in here prepared, focussed and with lots of jump as we expected they would after last weekend’s match. We didn’t respond well and I’ll take full blame. We needed to be better prepared, better focussed and needed to show more intensity right from 0-0 in game 1. Credit to our players for digging out of several 0-2 holes this year and once the girls won that third set, we hoped we were going to be in for another five setter. Unfortunately Moncton was too determined tonight. I’ll need to do a better job preparing our team this week in hopes of getting a couple of positive results against two good teams next weekend.”
UNB Team Record:
Conference Play vs. AUS 9 – 3
Conference Play vs. QC-INTERLOCK 0 – 4
Overall Conference Play 9 – 7 (2nd Place)
Non-CIS Exhibition Play 2 – 0
CIS Exhibition Play 6 – 4
Playoff Results 0 – 0
Overall Record 17 – 11
Upcoming:
UNB will now train all week in preparation for one of their most important home weekends of the season. The V-Reds will host two “Dig Pink” matches on Saturday, February 12th (CBU @ 6:30pm) and Sunday, February 13th (STFX @ 2:00pm) as part of “Think Pink” week in support of Breast Cancer Research. Jill Blanchard, Erica Hay and Alyson Clow will all play their final regular season games on Sunday and after the 2:00pm match will be formally recognized during senior’s day. The men’s volleyball squad will host two more “Dig Pink” matches against Dalhousie on February 12th at 8:30pm and again on February 13th at 4:00pm giving us a doubleheader each day. “Think Pink” week kicks off by the hockey team (“Pink in the Rink” Feb 9th hosting STU) and both basketball teams (“Shoot for the Cure” Feb 11th-12th hosting UPEI) in what will be a jam packed few days on campus.