Last Week:
After several days of intense training the V-Reds hosted 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. Within conference play back in October UNB narrowly defeated CBU 3-2 (after being down 0-2) while on the same trip St FX edged the V-Reds 3-2. Jill Blanchard, Erica Hay and Alyson Clow also all played their final regular season games on Sunday and were formally recognized. The men’s volleyball squad hosted Dalhousie in a showdown for first-place while “Think Pink” week kicked off with the hockey team hosting “Pink in the Rink” on Feb 9th and both basketball teams hosting “Shoot for the Cure” on Feb 11th-12th.
Monica Jones trained all week and finally returned to the court after being out since January 8th with a knee injury. Third year libero Megan Dudeck was ill and unable to dress on Saturday against CBU but did dress against STFX..
CAPE BRETON 0 @ UNB 3 (25-22, 30-28, 25-22)
Game Notes:
-UNB Player of the Match was second year setter Amanda Bakker with 31 assists and 9 points.
-Fifth year left-side Jill Blanchard had 16 kills and 19 points.
-With the win on Saturday evening the V-Reds secured at least a “Top 3” regular season finish for the 5th time in the last 6 seasons.
STFX 1 @ UNB 3 (25-18, 21-25, 25-13, 25-19)
Game Notes:
-Fifth year left-side Erica Hay and Jill Blanchard (UNB Player of the Match) combined for 35 kills, 28 digs and 42 points.
-Second year setter Amanda Bakker had another strong effort with 42 assists and 7 points.
-Sunday’s game was the last AUS women’s volleyball match ever to be played in the 70 year old LB Gym.
Other Conference Results:
Dalhousie 0 @ Memorial 3
St FX 3 @ Moncton 2
Dalhousie 3 @ Memorial 1
Saint Mary’s 3 @ Acadia 0
Cape Breton 3 @ Moncton 0
Coach’s Comments:
“I really liked how composed we were Saturday evening against Cape Breton. We missed a ton of serves but didn’t get rattled at all, even in that tight second set when CBU held set point a few times. I thought Monica Jones made some great touches on defence and it was a real emotional spark for our group to have her back in uniform. On Sunday we served a little better but passed way better and then let our two senior left-sides take us to the win. Monica took another step forward and Bakker was really solid again. Overall it was an emotional day on so many levels .... saying good bye to those three seniors (Blanchard, Hay, Clow), playing our last game ever at the main gym, seeing all the success of ‘Think Pink’ week and watching our men’s team play so well in both matches. It will be a weekend I’ll remember for a long time.”
UNB Team Record:
Conference Play vs. AUS 11 – 3
Conference Play vs. QC-INTERLOCK 0 – 4
Overall Conference Play 11 – 7 (2nd Place)
Non-CIS Exhibition Play 2 – 0
CIS Exhibition Play 6 – 4
Playoff Results 0 – 0
Overall Record 19 – 11
Upcoming:
UNB will now take Monday off before training Tuesday and Wednesday evenings in preparation for the Atlantic Conference Championships being held in Sydney, NS. Cape Breton University will host the event kicking off with the Awards Banquet Thursday evening. The V-Reds depart early Thursday morning for the 8½ hour bus trip. Quarter-Finals go on Friday evening, semi-finals are Saturday at 4:30pm and 7:00pm with the final being played at 2:00pm on Sunday.
Final AUS Standings:
1st – SMU
2nd – UNB
3rd – DAL
4th – STFX
5th – MONCTON
6th – MEMORIAL
7th – CBU (HOST OF AUS CHAMPIONSHIPS)
8th – ACADIA
This marks the 19th time in the past 22 seasons, UNB has qualified for the Conference Championships (with two of those three misses being years where the V-Reds were bumped by the Host as the 6th seed). The Varsity Reds have played in at least the semi-final round the past five years and now with the bye it will mark the 6th season in a row. UNB has appeared in the AUS Championship Final Match 2 of the past 3 seasons winning it in 2007-08. This bye marks the 4th time in the past 5 seasons they have receive a first round playoff bye (by finishing 1st or 2nd).
UNB AUS Championship schedule:
Friday, February 18th
Quarter-final #1: Dalhousie (3rd) vs. Cape Breton (6th), 6:00pm
Quarter-final #2: StFX (4th) vs. Moncton (5th), 8:00pm
Saturday, February 19th
Semifinal #1: Saint Mary’s (1st) vs. Lowest Remaining Seed, 4:30pm
Semifinal #2: UNB (2nd) vs. Highest Remaining Seed, 7:00pm
Sunday, February 20th
Championship Game: Semifinal Winners, 2:00pm