WOLFVILLE, N.S. – Winning nine of their last ten matches, the Axewomen volleyball team may be the hottest team in U SPORTS at this moment. Today's 3-2 win over the visiting Saint Mary's Huskies gives the Axewomen an 11-5 record and tied in second place with Huskies in the AUS women's volleyball standings.
The Axewomen edged Saint Mary's 28-26 in the opening game and fell short in winning two sets in a row with a 25-21 loss in the second.
Acadia held on to the lead for the entire third set, allowing Saint Mary's to come within one at 9-8 on by Kristina Adler.
The Huskies flipped the coin in the fourth set, remaining alive with a 25-18 victory
The match win came with a fifth 15-13 game win over the Huskies.
Out of the gates quickly in the fifth set, the Axewomen pushed out to an 8-4 lead, but Huskies worked back to an 8-7 deficit on a Lindsay Donovan kill and two Emilia Conlon service aces.
An Acadia timeout at this point was called by Acadia's coach Michelle Wood. Senior outside hitter Sarah Ross noted at this point, the set was so similar to a match a week ago in a fifth set loss to the Huskies in Halifax.
"It was all a blur. It's easy to get caught up in the crowd and the environment. You just have to stay focused and in your bubble. She essentially said to do your job and get it done. We had the exact scenario last weekend. We didn't want that to happen again," said Ross.
Subway Player of the Game Daniella Trodel posted nine kills and had a hitting efficiency of 0.300. Teammate Sarah Ross posted 18 kills. Rookie Lucy Glen-Carter and Lauryn Renzella added 14 and 13 kills respectively.
On the defensive side of the net, Kailey Evans had an amazing 39 digs and Glen-Carter had five solo blocks. Third-year setter Regan Herrington had to 47 assists.
Huskies' Player of the Game Kristina Adler had 10 kills and 18 digs, while Erin Smith had a team-high 13 kills and 0.200 hitting efficiency.
Tied with 11-5 records, the odds of the Huskies and Axewomen meeting in semi-final play are high. Ross knows a lot can happen in the remaining 4 matches – three against Memorial and the season-ending match at Dalhousie.
"A lot can happen and we just have to take it one day at a time, but I think whoever we match up against (in the playoffs) we will be ready for them," pointed out Ross.
"They are a very strong offensive team. On our offense, we did a good job moving them around and finding the holes, but we need to prevent them from scoring as much and so we will need to work on our defense."
The Axewomen wrap up their home game season next weekend, hosting Memorial for three matches beginning on Friday, February 9 at 7 p.m. followed by matches on Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. The Huskies host cross-town rivals and first place Dalhousie next Friday followed Saturday's match against Moncton.