Written by Thomas Scott
This season the Tigers women’s volleyball team was in the hunt for an 11th straight AUS title but fell short in the conference semi-final.
It was an exciting journey for the team, who will look to use the loss as fuel for next year.
The team split its first two games in Moncton in tight 3-2 matches against the Aigles Bleus. Returning home to Dalplex the next week, the Tigers split both games again. Each match resulted in a 3-0 game against the UNB Reds this time.
In the next game, the Tigers had a 2023 AUS finals rematch against the Acadia Axewomen. Second-year Paris Stewart recorded 12 kills in the 3-1 loss at Dalplex. Stewart was a force for the Tigers throughout the season, and in just her second season, she finished tenth in conference kills.
“She’ll continue to be a powerful presence for the team going forward,” says Michelle Aucoin, who took over as head coach for the Tigers this season.
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The Tigers wrapped up the first semester with a 7-7 record.
Dal had two massive games against the SMU Huskies on the weekend of Feb. 9. In the first game, fifth-year Lucy Glen-Carter was phenomenal, recording 21 kills.
Glen-Carter missed most of the first semester due to injury. Despite this, she immediately returned to her MVP ways. Seventy-first in games played but fourteenth in kills in the AUS displays how productive she was this season. However, she would miss the final two games of the playoffs.
“I think the team dealt with some adversity primarily as a result of a variety of injuries. So, I think because of that, we grew lots as individuals,” says Aucoin.
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Talia Vydykhan, a third-year student-athlete from Hammonds Plains, N.S., finished fifth in the conference in kills.
To close out the season, Dal split two games against the Acadia Axewomen as Vydykhan closed the season with a 26-kill performance.
“She’s a gifted athlete. I think her confidence and her experience with the game at the university level have really grown, along with her volleyball IQ,” says Aucoin.
Dal finished the season as the third seed, placing them against SMU and the AUS MVP Olivia Bell in the AUS semi-final.
Dal dropped the first game of the best-of-three series at the Homburg Centre 3-0. However, Dal rallied back in Game two at Dalplex, winning the match 3-1. Vydykhan and Stewart combined for 33 kills in the victory. Unfortunately for Dal, the Tigers dropped the deciding game at the Homburg Centre, bringing the season to a close.
It is the first time the Tigers have not won the AUS title since the 2011-12 season.
Two of the Tigers middles, Ella Hornby and Grace Calnan, finished in the top 10 for total blocks in the AUS this season. Hornby finished the season with 27, and Calnan recorded 19.
Hannah Ropret was named to the AUS all-rookie team this season and Paris Stewart was named a second team all-star. Glen-Carter and Vydykhan were named first team all-stars.
The Tigers will need to fill a couple big holes next season as Glen-Carter, Rebecca MacDonnell and Amelia Hartnett will graduate this year.
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This will now be up to their new head coach, Patrick Murray. An assistant coach from 2010 to 2019, Murray returned this season to support Aucoin in her interim role.
Vydykhan was named the team’s MVP and Kasandra Trenke was named Tiger of the Year. Glen-Carter followed up last year’s athlete of the year award with being named the winner of Dalhousie’s President’s Award this year.
Alessandra Nadalini, Ella Hornby, and Annik Boldon all earned their three-year D’s this season.
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