WOLFVILLE, N.S. - Acadia Women's Volleyball is eager to head into the regular season having just presented their most successful preseason competition in the past 4 years finishing 6-4, falling to only 2 opponents Dalhousie and Queen's (Kingston, ON).

The Axewomen started off with the Dalhousie Invitational, taking a 3-2 win against AUS competitors Saint Mary's and Moncton to place them in the final vs. Dalhousie. Acadia demonstrated tremendous staying power falling to the Tigers 1-3 (20-25, 25-22, 23-25, 15-25) taking a set off Dalhousie for the first time in 4 years. On the weekend, Sarah Ross lead the Axewomen with 42 kills, followed by team mate Carlotta Frasca with 34. Veteran libero Hillary Monette kept the Axewomen alive with 97 digs over the four matches. Both Ross and Monette were named tournament all-stars.

Acadia's second exhibition tournament would take them to Kingston, ON to take on Queen's University and the Nipissing Lakers. Acadia, unable to manage their unforced errors handed the Gaels the first match 0-3. They would bounce back with two consecutive wins versus the Lakers beating them 3-1 and 3-2 after being down two sets. The Axewomen competed hard in their final match up versus Queen's but weren't able to overtake the Gaels in a close 1-3 loss.

Sarah and Carlotta lead the team with 37 and 33 kills respectively, while first year Right Side hitter Lauryn Renzella contributed 18. Third year setter Tessa Bulmer was named to the tournament all-star team.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend the Axewomen hosted UNB and Holland College lead by Head Coach Lori-Beth McEwan (former Acadia Women's Volleyball first team All-Canadian).

In the first match of the weekend, UNB came out firing, catching Acadia with a slow start. Acadia would drop the first set 15-25. With a very quick and confident rebound, Acadia would shut the door on UNB taking the next 3 sets (25-18, 25-21, 25-19). "Collectively, this was our team's strongest match. Our serve receive and defensive transition allowed our team control of the game (after the first set)" commented Head Coach Michelle Wood.

Acadia's last match up versus UNB was in the AUS Quarter-Finals in February, 2015 where the Axewomen lost a heart breaker 16-14 in the 5th set. To round out Acadia's preseason exhibition, the Axewomen handed Holland College a 3-0 loss (25-18, 25-16, 25-14). Five athletes finished the weekend with .300 attack efficiency or greater (Chin, Frasca, McGuinty, Renzella and Ross).

Acadia will open the 2015-16 regular season with their home opener on October 30th at 7:00 pm versus the Dalhousie Tigers. Acadia will also host the 2015-16 AUS Championships February 26-28th.