2009-10 UNB Women's Volleyball Update # 15 - AUS Championships
Last Week:
The V-Reds took Monday off before training Tuesday, Wednesday and early Thursday morning. Thursday afternoon the team traveled to Halifax, NS to prepare for the Atlantic Conference Championships which were hosted by Saint Mary’s. Last year (2008-09) the Varsity Reds lost a tight 3-1 championship match to Moncton to finish 2nd while in 2007-08 UNB edged Saint Mary’s 3-2 for the Championship Title.
Conference Awards:
On Friday at the annual AUS Conference Awards Luncheon all the individual league awards were handed out prior to play opening Friday evening with six awards going to various UNB V-Reds.
AUS ALL-ROOKIE TEAM:
Rebecca Glancy, UNB
Emma Hunt, UNB
AUS SECOND TEAM ALL-STAR:
Barb Vriends UNB (5th year - West Covehead, PE)
AUS FIRST TEAM ALL-STARS:
Jillian Blanchard, UNB (4th year - Saint John, NB)
Tanya Paulin, UNB (3rd year - Bathurst, NB)
THERESE QUIGLEY AWARD ... Jill Blanchard, UNB
Results:
Friday – Quarter-Final – ACADIA 3 vs. DALHOUSIE 0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-20)
Friday – Quarter-Final – UNB 3 vs. CAPE BRETON 2 (25-22, 23-25, 25-19, 21-25, 15-7)
Going into the quarter-final match UNB owned the season series 2-0 in conference play and 3-0 overall. Both teams went back and forth early with some loud blocks allowing the V-Reds to go up 1-0 with a 25-23 win. In game two UNB led 21-20 but were outscored 5-2 to tie the match as CBU won 25-23. The Varsity Reds jumped out to leads of 9-2 and 18-12 to take a 2-1 set lead. Cape Breton did the same in game four to tie the match 2-2. UNB played some of their best volleyball of the night in game five with leads of 5-1, 11-4 and 12-5 to take the final set 15-7 and the hard fought match 3-2. Fourth year left-side Jill Blanchard (Saint John, NB) had one of her best matches of the year with 13 kills, 20 points and 14 digs. Fifth year middle Barb Vriends (Cove Head, PEI) had 14 kills, 19 points while hitting an impressive .522, while third year middle Tanya Paulin (Bathurst, NB) had 11 kills and 20 points. Rookie left-side Emma Hunt (Whitby, ON) had 10 kills, 13 points and 15 digs while second year libero Megan Dudeck (Winnipeg, MB) had 17 digs while passing an impressive 2.67 on 36 balls. With the win UNB advances to the AUS semi-final round for the fifth consecutive season.
Saturday – Semi-Final – STFX 3 vs. UNB 1 (22-25, 23-25, 25-23, 18-25)
Going into the semi-final match UNB and STFX had split the season series 1-1 (with both team winning a 3-2 during 2nd term) in conference play, but UNB held a 3-1 overall. The Varsity Reds jumped out to early leads of 8-3 and 16-13 but the X-Women took the lead late to take set one 25-22. The X-Women went up 8-4 and 16-11 in game two but UNB fought back to 22-23 before the teams went back and forth for a 25-23 STFX win. The third set would see another close game as UNB held 8-7, 12-7 and 16-13 leads before winning 25-23 to force a fourth set. In game four the X-Women jumped out to an early lead and maintained that lead throughout to take the match 3-1. Third year middle Tanya Paulin (Bathurst, NB) has another strong effort with 14 kills, 21 points and 6 blocks while fourth year left-side Jill Blanchard (Saint John, NB) capped off a great weekend with 12 kills and 13 digs. Fifth year middle Barb Vriends (Cove Head, PEI), the only player UNB loses this season, finished her career on a strong note with 9 kills, 12 points while hitting a match high .400% on 15 swings.
Saturday – Semi-Final – SAINT MARY’S 3 vs. ACADIA 0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-22)
Sunday Afternoon – Championship Final – SAINT MARY’S 3 vs. STFX 0 (25-12, 25-19, 25-14)
TOURNAMENT ALL-STAR
UNB, Tanya Paulin
Coach’s Comments:
“I thought against CBU our ‘battle’ level was real strong. They played the best we’ve seen them play this year, so we were fortunate we had some girls step up tonight. We blocked well and I thought we had one of our best serve-receive matches of the year. In the semi-final we competed well once again. They are a consistent, steady and well coached team, so you can’t make many mistakes and the line was so thin especially in those first three sets. We had more kills, assists, blocks and digs in the match than X and our best players were our best players, so we couldn’t ask for much more. They were just a little better late in each of those first three sets and that was the difference. In the end our team did exactly what I asked of them, so all we could do is be proud of our effort and congratulate STFX on an exceptional game.”
UNB Team Record:
League 9 - 9
Exhibition 12 - 2
Playoffs 1 - 1
Overall 22 - 12