Moncton Beats UNB
Aigles Bleues score 3-1 win in Bell Let's Talk Game
(FREDERICTON, NB) The Universite de Moncton Aigles Bleues rallied from down a set to beat the UNB Varsity Reds 3-1, in an Atlantic University Sport Bell Let's Talk Day women's volleyball match.
Les Aigles Bleues rode the momentum of a 30-28 win in a long third set to hand UNB its 17th consecutive loss.
Moncton won with scores of 18-25, 25-19, 30-28 and 25-20.
Pascale Doiron(Caraquet, NB) led Moncton with 14 kills and 13 digs, while Christelle Bertin(Beresford, NB) contributed 11 kills and 11 digs.
"At the beginning, our serve-receive wasn't very strong," said Moncton's Nicole Jamieson(Fredericton, NB), named Subway Player of the Match. "We came back to the bench and were like, we need to get that going so we can execute our plays. When we stabilized our serve-receive, we were able to progress with our plays."
Melika Belliveau(Shediac, NB) and Adora Rooyakkers(Port Hawkesbury, NS) had 13 and 10 kills respectively for the Varsity Reds.
Megan Kuciak(Ottawa, ON) recorded a match-high 17 digs for UNB.
"We stopped wanting the ball and being aggressive and coming out swinging, like we did in the first set," said Kuciak. "I think, after a couple of errors, we took a step back rather than stepping forward and wanting the ball."
The Varsity Reds started well, riding the strong serving of Paige Lehto(North Vancouver, BC) to an early 5-0 lead.
A Belliveau service ace sent UNB into the first set technical time-out with a 16-12 lead, and two Belliveau kills completed the 25-18 first set win.
UNB appeared to carry momentum into the second set, taking a 5-2 lead, but Moncton put together a 7-0 run to go in front 12-7. Les Aigles Bleues would tie the match with their 25-19 victory.
The third set saw UNB once again take an early lead.
On the strength of the serving of Lehto and Belliveau, the Varsity Reds went up 8-1
Moncton chipped away at the lead with a couple of 4-0 runs, eventually tying the set 23-23.
The two sides traded points, until Moncton got a kill and service ace from Emily Landry(McLeod Hill, NB) to take the third set 30-28.
Les Aigles Bleues opened the fourth set on another 4-0 run and never looked back.
UNB did tie the set 10-10, but couldn't muster a complete comeback and Moncton won 25-20, taking the match 3-1.
"We knew what we needed to do," said Jamieson. "We knew we needed to stabilize things on our side and not worry about what they were doing on their side."
With the win, Moncton is now 4-12 and sits fifth in the AUS standings.
UNB is 0-17, good for sixth place.
More than 450 people were in attendance, as the match was one of three AUS Bell Let's Talk Day events.
"We really appreciate all those that came out," said Kuciak. "We really wanted this win. But we're going to definitely take some things away from this. We're going to go back and work again, and fight to get the win next game."
Les Aigles Bleues head to Acadia to face the Axewomen on Saturday.
The Varsity Reds are off until next Saturday, February 10th, when they will visit Moncton.
RECAP AND PHOTOS BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics