Last Week:
After training for about ten days, the Varsity Reds left by bus early Wednesday morning to take part in the CIS National Championships being hosted by Laval in Quebec City. It marked the third trip in four seasons for UNB at the Nationals. The event kicked off with the CIS Awards Banquet Wednesday evening which saw UNB’s 5th year left-side Jill Blanchard being named a 2nd Team All-Canadian for the second straight year.
Day 1 ...
Quarter-Final: UBC (1st) 3 vs. Sherbrooke (8th) 1
Quarter-Final: Alberta (4th) 3 vs. Montreal (5th) 1
Quarter-Final: Trinity Western (2nd) 3 vs. Western Ontario (7th) 2
UNB 1 @ LAVAL 3 (25-27, 25-23, 15-25, 17-25) – Quarter-Final
Game Notes:
-UNB Player of the Match was fifth year left-side Jill Blanchard who played one of her top matches of the season ending up with 15 kills and 17 points while hitting .357% and leading the team in serve-recieve.
-Second year middle Rebecca Glancy had a solid effort hitting .357% and scoring 10 points while third year libero Monica Jones had 13 digs.
-The V-Reds trailed in set one 2-11 and 5-15 in front of Laval’s loud home crowd of around 1600 spectators. UNB fought back to actually lead 22-21 and 24-23 only to drop the first set 25-27.
Day 2 ...
Consolation Semi-Final: Montreal (4tht) 3 vs. Sherbrooke (8th) 0
Semi-Final: UBC (1st) 3 vs. Alberta (4th) 0
Semi-Final: Laval (3rd) 3 vs. Trinity Western (2nd) 1
UNB 0 @ WESTERN ONTARIO 3 (23-25, 21-25, 22-25) – Consolation Semi-Final
Game Notes:
-UNB Player of the Match was fourth year middle Tanya Paulin who ended up with 10 kills and 14 points while hitting .368%.
-Fifth year left-side Erica Hay ended up with 9 kills and 11 points while second year setter Amanda Bakker matched Western’s fifth year setter with 26 assists.
-The V-Reds had a much better start holding leads of 18-13 and 15-5, but Western was able to come back and steal set one. UNB had a season low 15 digs in the match, which ultimately had an impact on the result.
Coach’s Comments:
“After we started slow and nervous against Laval, the girls responded very well and played some of their best volleyball of the year during the last part of the first set and for the next hour or so. Our ball control broke down late in the match and they ran away. I thought Jill had a great effort as did Monica and Rebecca. It was a tough but enjoyable environment to play in, one we won’t forget for a long time. It was really special to see our group play so well against one of the top teams in Canada on their home court in a pressure packed match, something that will benefit our girls for the future. After getting off the court so late Friday night and then needing to prepare in a short period of time for Saturday afternoon, I was pleased against Western we had a better start. Tanya and Amanda gave us some spark at certain times especially early. We had chances in every set, but it came down to execution and we just lacked some discipline especially defensively late in each game. Overall I was really proud of our athletes and especially their effort and performance over the past month or so. We had some challenges with injuries and illness throughout the season, but I believed in this group, so to put it together when we did says a lot about the character of our group. Jill, Erica and Alyson will be missed on and off the court, but our program is further ahead thanks to what they contributed over their careers.”
UNB Team Record:
Conference Play vs. AUS 11 – 3
Conference Play vs. QC-INTERLOCK 0 – 4
Overall Conference Play 11 – 7 (2nd Place Regular Season)
Non-CIS Exhibition Play 2 – 0
CIS Exhibition Play 6 – 4
Playoff Results 2 – 2 (AUS Conference Champions, CIS 7th Place @ Nationals)
Overall Record 21 – 13