(WOLFVILLE, N.S.) - The fourth-seeded Saint Mary's Huskies battled back from a 2-0 set deficit to win three games in a row for a 3-2 match victory against the fifth-seeded Moncton Aigles Bleues.
Fifth-year outside hitter Erica Dowling (Sackville, N.S.) led the Huskies with 12 kills in the comeback Huskies win.
"All year we have been in a lot of close games; been down two sets and fought back hard," said Dowling after the match. "We just played every point. We have a lot of injuries right now and a lot of first-year players playing. I am really proud of our team and how we fought back."
Three Huskies attack errors and a service ace by Doiron gave the Aigles Bleues a 23-18 advantage and eventual 25-18 win.
The Aigles Bleues repeated a narrow win against the Huskies in the second set to take a 2-0 match lead.
The Huskies gained momentum after a 7-7 tie in the third set. Extending their lead to 18-14 in the third game, Saint Mary's captured a 25-23 win.
They then continued in their winning ways, picking up a 25-18 fourth set win to tie the match at two.
Tied at two early in the final game, the Huskies pushed out to a 6-4 lead on kills from Subway Player of the Game Erin Smith and Kristina Alder (Brampton, Ont.).
Attack errors by the Aigles Bleues game the Huskies an 11-7 lead and eventual 15-8 win to take the match 3-2.
Huskies senior Erin Smith posted 11 kills and four service aces.
A great defensive effort came from four Huskies who posted double-digit digs, including Maddie Clarke with 21, Erica Dowling with 22, Tessa Michaels (Mill Bay, B.C.) with 16 and Kristina Alder (Brampton, Ont.) who added 10.
Moncton's Emilie Landry, named the Aigles Bleues' Subway Player of the Game, had a match-high 13 kills for an impressive hitting efficiency of 0.333, while teammates Pascale Doiron and Rachelle Lemoine (Winnipeg, Man.) each posted 10 kills.
Moncton's strong defensive effort came from Doiron and Christelle Bertin (Beresford, N.B.) who each recorded 17 digs, while teammate Catherine Guitard added 15.
The Saint Mary's Huskies will meet the defending AUS champion and top-seeded Dalhousie Tigers at 4:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon in the first two Subway AUS Women's Volleyball Championship semi-final matchups.
Source: Acadia Sports Communications