Tigers fall to REDS 3-2

Written by Andy Campbell, UNB Athletics

(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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

Jenna Adams (Truro, NS) had a match-high 32 digs for the REDS while Catherine Burns (Fredericton, NB) had 38 assists. 

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 9th. 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.