REDS Rally, Sweep Tigers

(FREDERICTON, NB) The UNB REDS rallied from down a set to beat the Dalhousie Tigers 3-2 in Atlantic University Sport women’s volleyball action, Saturday afternoon at UNB’s Richard J. Currie Center.

Talia Nixon (Fredericton, NB) led the REDS with 14 kills and 16 digs, earning Tim Horton’s Player of the Game honours.

“The win feels really good,” said Nixon. “We had a little bit of a slower start today, so knowing that we can bring that back in and still fight and find a way is good.”

Despite some aggressive play by both sides early on, neither was able to establish a significant lead in the opening set until the Tigers went ahead 12-7 prompting a UNB timeout.

Dal would maintain at least a four-point advantage until a late run by the REDS closed the gap to two points, at 19-17.

While the REDS would trim their deficit to a single point, the Tigers were able to fight through to a 25-22 first set victory.

The REDS responded, and then some, in the second set.

The home team raced out to a 3-0 lead and extended it to 5-1.

A Nixon ace gave UNB an 11-6 lead and Nixon later scored on a kill to put the REDS up 18-10.

Solid serving from Emily Wezeman (Port Moody, BC) allowed the REDS to close out a 25-12 win.

The third set saw the Tigers fashion an early 6-2 lead, one they’d extend to 11-3.

The REDS were never able to re-establish their momentum and Dal won the third set 25-14.

“John (interm head coach John Richard) is really good at keeping us calm,” said Nixon. “You can’t do anything about what’s happened, the fact you’re down 2-1, there’s nothing you can do about that anymore, so move forward, what can you do now?”

The fourth set was a back-and-forth affair early on, the teams playing to a 9-9 tie before the Tigers pulled ahead 12-9.

The REDS fought from behind to take a 22-19 lead and hung on to beat the Tigers 25-23 to force a deciding set.

“We get caught up in what we’re doing and we get a little frazzled, we forget to just focus on what’s happening on our side, but being able to come back and bring it back and focus on the six, seven girls and those coming off the bench, it’s important that we stay on our side in our heads, that’s when we play our best,” said Nixon.

In the fifth, UNB went up 3-0 and never looked back.

Down 5-1, the Tiges called a timeout.

The teams traded points for a bit and the Tigers pulled to within a single point at 12-11.

UNB used a 3-0 run to close out the set 15-11 and the match 3-2.

With the win, the REDS improve to 10-6 while the Tigers are now 7-7.

The Tigers return to action this Friday, at 6:00pm, when they host the Memorial Sea-Hawks.

The REDS next match is Friday, February 9^th. They visit Acadia for a 7:00pm start.

“We’ve had a long stretch of games, back-to-back weekends, so I think it’s catching up to us and I think we’ve earned a break,” said Nixon.

RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics

PHOTOS BY: James West/for UNB Athletics