WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The Axewomen volleyball team took one step backward in the hope to host the coming semifinals, with a nail-bitter loss to the visiting first-place Dalhousie Tigers. The loss drops Acadia back to third place in the AUS standings.
The Axewomen started strong in the opening set, jumping out to a 5-1 lead on a collection of attack errors and an early kill by Sydney Zakutney (Ottawa, Ont.).
A service ace by Lucy Glen-Carter (Toronto, Ont.) narrowed the Axewomen lead to 6-5.
The Tigers continued to trail by no more than appoint until a kill by Olivia Haley (South Glengarry, Ont.) opened the lead to 12-10 and gave way to a rush of points off of errors and kill exchanges to give Acadia a commanding 18-13 lead. The lead would not be closed, giving the Axewomen a 25-21 first-set win.
Trailing early, the Tigers bounced back on an Ella Hornby (Calgary, Alta.) kill to tie the second set at 5. A kill by Talia Vydykhan (Hammonds Plains, N.S.) combined with a bad set, two attack errors, and another Vydykhan kill pushed the Tigers out to an 11-7 lead.
Kills by Olivia Haley and Sydney Zakutney tied the second game at 18. A back and fourth closing of the second set eventually gave the 25-21 win to the Tigers on the back of kills by Honby and Glen-Carter.
Once again, Acadia pushed out to an early set lead, gaining a 9-5 lead on the performance of Erica Fisher (Stewiacke, N.S.) and Jenna Lake (South Conception Bay, Nfld.) with two kills a piece.
But the Tigers tied the third set at 15-15 on a Paris Stewart (Halifax, N.S.) kill and an Acadia attack error.
Eventually, the Axewomen broke the tie at 21-21 on Tiger attack error and kills by Eve Collombin (Victoria, B.C.) and two by Zakutney, grabbing a 25-22 third set win.
For the first time in the match, the Tigers took a quick 9-2 lead in the fourth frame.
The Axewomen fought back and tied the game at 11 before kills by Charlotte Dean (Mississauga, Ont.) and Jenna Lake pushed Acadia into a 13-11 lead. But Dalhousie wouldn't give up that easily and used a Vydykhan kill to break a 14-14 tie and an eventual 25-20 fourth-set win.
The Tigers maintained a lead in the opening of the fifth set until Taylor Witty's (Dartmouth, N.S.) kill tied the final set at eight.
But a combination of Vydykhan and Glen-Carter gave Dalhousie a 15-10 fifth set win and a 3-2 match win to improve to 16-3 – holding on to first place in the standings.
Former Axewoman Lucy Glen-Carter, who posted her 1000th career kill, was named the Subway Player of the Game with a match-high 24 kills and 26.5 points. Teammate Talia Vydykhan had 13 kills.
Taylor Witty recorded 14 kills and 17.5 points for the Axewomen, while Sydney Zakutney had 10 kills along with 16 digs.
The Axewomen drop to a 14-5 record and sit in third place in the AUS standings. Acadia hosts second-place Saint Mary's this Friday for their last regular season game and then the Huskies and Dalhousie play on Saturday. All hope is not lost for the hosting of a semifinal series. Acadia will need to beat Saint Mary's this Friday and then hope that the Tigers can top the Huskies.