HALIFAX, N.S. —The Saint Mary's Huskies battled back and defeated the visiting Acadia Axewomen in five sets on Friday night in Atlantic University Sport volleyball action from the Homburg Centre and put an end to a six game winning streak that the Axewomen held.

Fifth-year middle Erin Smith (Moncton, NB) paced SMU and all hitters with 19 kills in the victory. 

Acadia took the first set 25-23 as the Axewomen held a slight 16-13 kill advantage. 

The Huskies bounced back and took the second set 26-24 as Acadia had more kills in the set (11-7). 

Acadia took the third set 26-24 and had seven more kills in the third set (16-9). 

The fourth set saw the Huskies use a 25-16 score and held a 13-6 kill advantage. 

The final set saw Saint Mary's take it 17-15 with one more kill than the Axewomen (8-7). 

"The loss is a humble reminder that there is always more work to be done. I'm incredibly proud of our ability to extend rallies defensively. On the other end of that, we declared after the match that we want to be the team that can finish those rallies by hitting the appropriate angles. We keep getting better as a team and that's important in our ongoing journey," said Axewomen head coach Michelle Wood following the tight match.

Toronto natives Lucy Glen-Carter and Sarah Ross each chipped in 14 kills for Acadia while Lauryn Renzella (Stouffville, ON) had 12. 

Anna Watt (Calgary, AB) had nine kills for SMU while teammate Maddie Clarke (Ottawa, ON) finished with seven. 

Saint Mary's improves to 10-4 in conference play while Acadia drops to 8-5 on the year. 

Both teams hit the road this weekend for a trip to Moncton versus the 3-10 Université de Moncton Aigles Bleues. 

Acadia plays Saturday January 27th at 4 p.m., while Saint Mary's plays Sunday January 28th at 2 p.m. 

Dominic Nolasco, SMU Communications 

Photo Nick Pearce