WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The Axewomen volleyball team picked up a hard-earned 3-2 win against the always-tough Dalhousie Tigers in their first home game of 2022.
AUS Subway Player of the Match, Taylor Collombin lead all players in the match with an incredible 25 kills and a hitting percentage of 0.344.
"This week we really focused on positive block touches, which definitely helped out defensively all around and I think in general our defense was on a great pursuit level. I thought Becky was amazing in defending the corner. The balls that scored, we were putting in an all-out effort for, so I thought it was good defensively," noted Collombin following the match.
The Tigers opened the match with a 25-19 win to take a 1-0 lead. A kill by Julie Moore followed by several Acadia attack errors gave Dalhousie a 16-10 advantage. The Tigers maintained the cushion for the most part of the game until a kill by Jenna Lake followed by an Erica Fisher block closed the game to 18-16. The Tigers would prevail with a set win.
Down 10-5 early in the second set, the Axewomen rallied back to tie the game at 14 on a Taylor Collombin kill. From that point onward, Acadia pushed the lead to 19-16 and an eventual 25-22 win that was capped by another Collombin kill.
The third set was the tightest of the match with the lead never remaining in one team's favour until the end when two Acadia attack errors gave the Tigers a 28-26 win.
The Axewomen never lost the lead in the fourth set. Ahead by as much as six points at 18-12, Acadia squeezed out a 25-21 win to tie the match at 2-2.
With the final set at 7-7 when Sydney Zakutney broke the tie with a kill that led to a Zakutney service and kills by Collombin and Emilie Albert to give Acadia a 12-7 lead. The Tigers didn't give up in the closing of the final set when a kill by Moore combined with two attack errors by Acadia closed the margin to 14-12. Eve Collombin's kill captured the 15-12 set and 3-2 match win.
Kathleen Fougere posted a Tigers high 129 kills and senior Julie Moore added 11 along with 28 digs.
On the Axewomen's defensive effort, Rebecca Dorsey posted 28 digs, while teammates Taylor Collombin and Emilie Albert added 21 and 15 digs respectively.
The Tigers, who drop to 6-4, take on 8-3 Saint Mary's Huskies on Sunday. The Axewomen, who improve to 8-3 and sit in first place in the AUS standings, host Saint Mary's tomorrow at 4:00 pm.