HALIFAX, NS – The Saint Mary’s Huskies had a successful senior night, pulling off a reverse sweep for a four set win (22-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-12) over the Dalhousie Tigers in Atlantic University Sport women’s volleyball action on Friday night at the Homburg Centre.
It was Senior Day for the Huskies as they honoured five graduating seniors – Lianne Rogers, Syree Tucker, Kala Bruhm, Taylor Lougheed and Emilia Mikanovich – ahead of their final regular season home game at the Homburg Centre.
In the first set, the Huskies opened up an early lead, with a block from Jordin Parsons and Syree Tucker putting them ahead 10-6. But the Tigers came roaring back, with a service run from Kasandra Trenke tying the set at 15-15, before kills from Dominika Aniolowska and Annik Bolden gave the visitors their first lead at 17-16. The two rival schools exchanged points, before an Ella Hornby kill put Dalhousie ahead 23-21, and they were able to hold on for a tight 25-22 first set win.
Dal’s momentum continued into the second set, as they took a quick 2-0 lead. But an Emilia Mikanovich service run, with kills from Esther Wildeboer and Syree Tucker put the Huskies ahead 9-4. Saint Mary’s continued their strong play, with a Alena Piatukhova block extending their lead to 22-17 late, but Dalhousie responded with back-to-back kills from Paris Stewart and Annik Bolden to cut the Huskies lead to two. But the Huskies closed the set with a block from Jordin Parsons, followed by a set-winning kill by Syree Tucker to take it 25-20 and tie the match at one set a piece.
The Huskies continued to play well into the third set, as they controlled it throughout. Dalhousie cut the lead to 20-16 off a kill from Dominika Aniolowska, but Saint Mary’s closed with five straight kills from Tucker, Piatukhova, Mikanovich and two from Esther Wildeboer, with her second finishing the set 25-16, and giving SMU a 2-1 lead.
Early in the fourth set, another Wildeboer kill gave SMU a 5-1 lead, and on the ensuing point, Wildeboer made a hustling dig crashing into the scoring table and momentarily knocking out power. No music and no scoreboard didn’t phase the Huskies, as they roped off another five-set run off of Mikanovich’s serve and a couple blocks from Alena Piatukhova, putting them ahead 10-2.
Power was eventually restored, but the Huskies didn’t lose a step, as they controlled the entire fourth set, capped off by a Mikanovich ace, on their way to a convincing 25-12 win, taking the match three sets to one.
Huskies left side Syree Tucker was named Player of the Match, scoring 12.5 points on 12 kills, one assist, 0.5 blocks and seven digs. Emilia Mikanovich led all scorers with 24.0 points (22 kills, one ace, 1.0 blocks, 17 digs), Esther Wildeboer chipped in 18.5 points (14 kills, three assists, 1.5 blocks, 10 digs), and Taylor Lougheed dished out a match-high 41 assists, and added 10 digs and 1.5 blocks.
The Tigers were led by Annick Boldon’s 14.0 points (13 kills, one ace, eight digs), while Paris Stewart added 10.0 points (nine kills, eight digs, one ace) and Madelyn MacLaughlin dished out 24 assists.
With the win, the Huskies the season with a 10-10 record, while the Tigers finish 9-11. Saint Mary’s will matchup against the Memorial Sea-Hawks (10-9) in the AUS semifinal, but who has home court will be determined by the Sea-Hawks result on Saturday against Acadia. The Tigers finish as the #4 seed, and will take on the top-seed UNB REDS (20-0) in a semifinal series, with schedule information to be determined.
Recap by Allan April / Saint Mary’s Huskies Athletics
Photos by Mona Ghiz / Saint Mary’s Huskies Athletics