Vydykhan leads Tigers to victory over Sea-Hawks

Written by Wells Mayes, Dalhousie Athletics

The Dalhousie Tigers defeated the Memorial Seahawks by 3 sets to 0 (25-14, 25-23, 25-8) on Friday night.

The night’s opening set saw the Tigers pull out to a comfortable lead early in the set, helped by some spectacular play by third-year middle Ella Hornby (Calgary, AB). As the set wore on, the Tigers began to gradually expand their lead. The opening salvo was punctuated by a stellar block by Grace Calnan (Cole Harbour, NS) and Amelia Hartnett (Fredericton, NB), helping Dalhousie take a one-set lead by a margin of 25 points to 14.

Memorial came out of the gate strongly in the second set, helped by a strong serving run from first-year Taylor Johnston (Nokomis, SK). They took 7 of the first 8 points before Dalhousie called one of their two timeouts. However, from this point on the tides would turn, with the Tigers proceeding to cut down the Seahawks lead little by little for most of the interval. Dalhousie’s strong serving carried them through this turbulent time, with Calnan (Cole Harbour, NS) acing the Seahawks to knot the set at 16 before second-year outside Paris Stewart (Halifax, NS) put the set away with the Tigers up one with a particularly strong swing of the arm.

After a resurgent end to the second set, Dalhousie took the first six points of the third to firmly put them in charge. Much like the first set, the Tigers’ pulled away, with the only resistance coming part way through the set thanks to some strong setup play from second-year setter Karen Greek (Mount Pearl, NL). Dalhousie ultimately clinched the win on their first match point, with a commanding kill from second-year outside Melissa Hatfield (Beaverlodge, AB) which was facilitated by first-year setter Hannah Ropret (Toronto, ON).

Standout performers on the night were Dalhousie’s fifth-year libero Rebecca MacDonnell (Mount Uniacke, NS), who tallied 7 digs, and Memorial’s Lydia Grawer (St. Louis, MO). The third- year outside had 5 digs and 5 kills in the defeat.

With the win, the Tigers improve to 8-7 on the year, while the Seahawks fall to 0-15.

Memorial and Dalhousie will return to play tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 P.M. AST.