WOLFVILLE, N.S. – It took a long and nail-biting 36-36 third-set win for the Axewomen to grab a 3-0 match victory over the visiting UNB REDS.
Taylor Witty (Dartmouth, N.S.) picked up the Subway Player of the Game honours with a team-high 13 kills and an astounding 0.407 hitting percentage in the win.
"We really worked hard on closing sets this week. We really wanted to finish strong and pull out a big win. The goal was to take them in three, which we did. It was a close one and it was really fun," said Witty following the game.
The Axewomen, in exhibition play in Toronto, experienced several extended or close sets and it seems to have paid off for the opening game of the regular season.
"The pressure in the exhibition didn't quite go the way we wanted to, and we knew going into this game we wanted to finish strong"
Out to an early 9-5 lead, the Axewomen pushed the first set score to 21-12 before the REDS woke up.
Kills by Heather Benko (Sechelt, B.C.) and Bailey Lemieux (Fredericton, N.B.), an Acadia ball-handing error, two attack errors, and a service ace by Paige Lehto closed the gap to 23-17.
Eventually, Jenna Lake's (Conception Bay South, Nfld.) kill closed out the set at 25-19
Once again, the Axewomen pulled out into an early lead, this time in the second set.
Kills by Witty and Lake settled the lead at 13-8.
With a two-point margin (16-14) at the technical timeout, Acadia regrouped and pushed the lead to 19-15. A UNB service error would end the second game at 25-22.
Acadia delivered a 12-4 advantage in the third set, yet the REDS would claw their way back from the eight-point deficit.
A seven-point run that included two service aces by Meghan Vaags (Abbotsford, B.C.) and two kills by Emma Burns (Fredericton, N.B.), closed the lead and eventually a 16-16 tie.
From that point onward, it was anyone's guess on who would walk away with a set that wouldn't end.
Kills by Witty and Wesley-Ann Bailey (Ottawa, Ont.) would end the marathon set at 36-34 and a 3-0 match.
Lemieux, Benko and Vaags led the REDS in kills with six each.
Both teams will return to Stu Aberdeen Court tomorrow at 2:00 pm for a rematch on the opening weekend of the AUS women's volleyball season.