WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The Saint Mary's Huskies moved one step closer to clinching the right to host a semifinal series by beating the host Acadia Axewomen in a hard fought 3-2 win.
Huskies' Olivia Bell (Lahave, N.S.), who posted 18 kills and 18.5 points, was named the AUS Subway Player of the Match. Bell also added 16 digs, 2 block solos and 2 block assists.
The Axewomen pushed out to an early 6-3 lead in part due to two Huskies' attack errors and maintained a lead for the entire opening frame. Kills by Charlotte Dean (Mississauga, Ont.), Wesley-Ann Bailey (Ottawa, Ont.) and two by Taylor Witty (Dartmouth, N.S.) widened the gap to 17-9. A kill by senior graduating Axewoman Paige Snell (Markham, Ont.) ended the set at 25-14 and a 1-0 match lead.
Tied at 10-10 on a kill by Taylor Witty in the second set, the Huskies gained momentum off of several Olivia Bell kills and a handful of Acadia attack errors to gain a 17-10 advantage.
Two kills by Emilia Mikanovich (Minsk, Belarus), a ball-handling error, and kills from Megan Brum (Hubley, N.S.) and Bell ended the second set at 25-17 for the visiting Huskies.
As expected, neither team would waver in the third set. Momentum would change hands throughout the game. Tied at seven, the Axewomen gained an 11-7 lead on the play of Erica Fisher (Stewiacke, N.S.) who posted two service aces.
The Huskies fought back and tied the set at 20-20 off of an Acadia attack error and took the lead on another attack error. Saint Mary's edged out to a 23-21 lead, but Acadia would not give up, tying the set at 24 and eventually winning the game 26-24 on kills by Dean and Fisher along with a block by Dean and Fisher.
Neither team gave up more of a lead than two points as the fourth set teetered back and forth until a service error and two attack errors by the Axewomen opened the Saint Mary's lead to 21-17.
Tied at 24-24, an exchange of kills by Megan Bruhm and Sydney Zakutney (Ottawa, Ont.), moved the tied match to 25-25. A kill by Alena Piatukhova (Minsk, Belarus) and an Acadia attack error gave the Huskies a 26-24 fourth-set win.
The Huskies jumped on an early lead in the fifth and final set. Out to 8-3 start on the back of four Olivia Bell kills, the Axewomen struggled to make ground.
At 13-7, the Axewomen benefited from two Huskies attack errors and a kill by Sydney Zakutney to close the Huskies' lead to 13-10.
An eventual Megan Bruhm kills and a Madison Hann (Conquerall Mills, N.S.) service ace ended a tight match and fifth set at 15-11.
Acadia's Rebecca Dorsey (Toronto, Ont.) 412 digs this season for an AUS record (recent history). Dorsey had 19 digs this game. Sydney Zakutney led the Axewomen with 15 kills and 16.5 points.
Olivia Bell had a game-high 18 kills and 18.5 points and teammates Megan Bruhm and Emilia Mikanovich had 14 and 12 kills respectively. Mikanovich had a team-high 20 digs.
Acadia finishes the regular season in third place in the AUS standings. The Axewomen will await the results of tomorrow's game between Dalhousie and Saint Mary's to determine their semi-final opponents.