(HALIFAX, NS) The third-seed UNB Reds advanced to the Subway Atlantic University Sport women's volleyball championship game with a straight-sets win over the No. 2 Acadia Axewomen on Friday.
The Reds won with scores of 25-20, 25-19 and 25-14.
"It feels crazy. It feels surreal. It feels good," said Reds veteran libero Maggie McLenahan (Oromocto, NB), named Subway Player of the Game. "We've worked so hard throughout the season, and it's finally paying off."
"It feels great, especially in my last year, but we're not even close to done and we know that," said Megan Kuciak (Ottawa, ON). "We've set our sights on the AUS banner from the start, so there's still a lot of work to do."
Defensive play led the way early with McLenahan and Acadia's Regan Herrington (Georgina, ON) making great digs.
The Reds put together a run before the technical break, with Siobhan Fitzpatrick (Kelowna, BC) dropping a service ace to force an Acadia time-out.
That did little to cool the fifth-year hitter. Out of the break, Fitzpatrick hammered home a kill on the next possession.
The Reds held a 16-9 advantage at the technical time-out.
The Axewomen were able to bring themselves back into the match with some nice serving by Peyton DeWolfe (Conquerall Mills, NS) and some big swings from Lucy Glen-Carter (Toronto, ON) and Lauryn Renzella (Stouffville, ON), getting to within four.
Making a run of their own, the Reds blockers stepped up to make big plays, as well as getting some fortunate tips off of blockers on the other side for kills from Robyn Anderson (Fernie, BC) and Victoria Eadle (Gallagher Ridge, NB).
A great dump over from Herrington brought the Axewomen within three late in the set, but a tough serve from Eadle resulted in an ace and the 25-20 win in the opening set for the Reds.
In the second set, the lead changed hands many times in the early going. Neither team was able to gain any real advantage and the Reds led 16-15 at the time-out.
The Reds then began to pull away, with Eadle finding the lines on both sides of the court.
After forcing a time-out, Eadle was able to drop in a service ace before Kristen Burns (Mississauga, ON) picked up a huge block.
On set point, a crafty dump from Paige Lehto (North Vancouver, BC) fooled the Axewomen, and the Reds took the second set 25-19.
UNB held their momentum at the start of the third set, getting some great serving from Burns to jump out to a 4-0 lead.
The lead grew for the Reds before the technical time-out, with another big swing from Burns finding the back line as they took a commanding 11-3 lead to force an Axewomen time-out.
Acadia was able to put together a run before the break, but it was not enough.
The Reds took a 16-7 lead into the technical break.
With more big kills from Eadle and Fitzpatrick, the set got away from the Axewomen as UNB went up 22-13.
With one final rolling kill from Eadle, the Reds were able to take the win in the third set at 25-14 and earn their place in the conference championship match.
"We were able to practice in this gym twice before playing, yesterday and today. So, we were able to get a feel for it," said Kuciak. "All the stands are out and it kind of looks like the Currie Center. We did everything as if it was a game day at home, and I think that was a strength for us."
"As a group, we've had our sights set on getting as good, as strong as we could get, as a team, by the end of the year," said Reds head coach Christine Biggs. "We're not comparing ourselves to other teams, we're comparing ourselves to where we were yesterday. We're not surprised that we're our best right now, and I think we believe that we're continuing to get better."
The Reds move on to face the host and top-seed Dalhousie Tigers in Saturday's final.
Game time is 4:00pm, at Dalhousie University's DalPlex.
RECAP BY: Kirk Jessome/for Dal Athletics and Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics
PHOTOS BY: Trevor MacMillan/for Dal Athletics