(ST. JOHN’S, NL) The UNB REDS scored a straight-sets win over the Memorial Sea-Hawks in Atlantic University Sport women’s volleyball action, Saturday afternoon in St. John’s.
The REDS won with scores of 25-19, 25-13, and 25-12 to sweep the weekend series between the teams.
“It was good to get out of here in three again,” said REDS interim head coach John Richard. “And being able to play a lot of players was another positive.”
Heather Benko (Sechelt, BC) scored the first point of the match on one of her six kills and the teams settled into a bit of a back-and-forth.
The host Sea-Hawks held small leads, but a strong offensive effort by UNB’s Lydia Green (Bedford, NS) led the REDS to a 20-17 lead which prompted a Memorial timeout.
The Sea-Hawks closed the gap to 20-19 before UNB used a 5-0 run to win the set.
In the second, UNB took advantage of multiple Sea-Hawks errors and rode some strong serving by Benko to build an early 5-1 lead.
Memorial continued to make errors and the REDS continued to take advantage, winning the second set 25-13.
In the third set, the Sea-Hawks registered the first point, but the REDS responded by fashioning a 6-1 lead before pushing it to 9-2.
A Talia Nixon (Fredericton, NB) kill put the REDS ahead 11-3.
UNB then went on a series of runs, building a 20-7 lead on route to a dominant 25-12 win for the 3-0 victory.
Nixon had five kills in the victory while Jenna Adams (Truro, NS) had seven digs and Catherine Burns (Fredericton, NB) had 21 assists.
Courtney Hodder (Main Point, NL) led the Sea-Hawks with eight kills and Sarah Trowbridge (Sunnyside, NL) had seven digs.
“Cat put in a solid weekend and Lydia continues to be a consistent attacker for our side,” said Richard.
With the win, the REDS are now 7-and-5 and tied for third in the AUS standings. The Sea-Hawks are still winless, 0-and-11, and in last place.
UNB now returns home to host the Saint Mary’s Huskies in the opener of a weekend series on Friday at 6:00pm.
“Now to get home and prepare for an important alumni weekend,” said Richard.
The Sea-Hawks are idle until the following Friday, January 26th, when they host Acadia.
STORY BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics with files from MUN Athletics
PHOTOS BY: Udantha Chandraratne/for MUN Athletics