(FREDERICTON, NB) The UNB REDS scored a 3-0 win over the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleues in Atlantic University Sport women's volleyball, on Saturday night, at UNB's Richard J. Currie Center.
The REDS won with scores of 26-24, 25-21 and 25-22.
"I'm proud of the way we were patient in the end, because it wasn't looking good at times, but they pulled themselves out by making some plays, which is nice to see," said REDS head coach Richard Schick. "We expected UdeM to play as scrappy as they did and I thought that we showed a lot of patience. We came from behind a lot, so I think our patience and trust in what we're trying to do paid off."
Early in the first set, the visitors looked to establish control, riding some strong blocking to an early 5-1 lead.
After a UNB time-out, the REDS responded with three straight points.
Trailing 6-4, the REDS got five straight points from Bailey Lemieux (Fredericton, NB) as they moved in front 9-6.
Back and forth play continued and the teams were tied at 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24 before the REDS put together the final two points, taking the set 26-24.
In the second, Moncton came from behind to grab an early 7-5 lead and force another UNB time-out.
The teams traded short runs for most of the set until UNB moved ahead 19-16.
With the REDS up 22-19, it was Moncton's turn to call time-out.
The Aigles Bleues could do little to slow the REDS and UNB went on to win the set 25-21, taking a two-sets-to-none lead.
The third set saw Moncton build an early 7-2 lead.
The REDS clawed their way back, pulling even at 11 before the Aigles Bleues surged ahead again.
With Moncton up 14-11, the REDS took advantage of consecutive Moncton errors to make the score 14-13.
UNB then scored three of the next four points to grab the lead 16-15.
Late in the third, with the Aigles Bleues up 22-20, the REDS scored three straight points to lead 23-22, forcing a Moncton time-out.
In the end, the REDS took the set 25-22 for the straight sets victory.
"It's great," said REDS libero Jenna Adams (Truro, NS) of the win. "We really worked hard on our defence this past week, just getting balls up and I feel like we got a lot of balls up, ones that we hadn't before, everyone did, so it was good."
Adams registered eight kills and six digs for the REDS and was named Subway Player of the Game.
Katelyn Chapman had a game-high 15 digs for UNB, while Heather Benko (Sechelt, BC) had 12 digs to go along with 10 kills.
Abigail Pallister (Moncton, NB) and Ivana Urquhart-Mladineo (Saint John, NB) led the Aigles Bleues with 10 kills each.
"For us, it's a win," said Pallister, of the close set scores. "We're showing we can compete and we're scaring some teams, which is positive for us and we're giving it our all. It's a loss, but we see it as a positive too."
Cassidy Martin (Dieppe, NB) had a game-high 24 assists for Moncton.
With the loss, Moncton is now 2-12 and in fifth place in the AUS standings.
The REDS, who've now won four in a row, improve to 8-7. UNB is in fourth place.
"We're going to keep going with the momentum that we have," said Adams.
Up next for the Aigles Bleues, a visit to St. John's, and a Friday night match against the Memorial Sea-Hawks. First serve is scheduled for 6:30pm Atlantic.
The REDS head to Halifax on Friday to take on the Dalhousie Tigers. Game time is 7:00pm.
"We know the path ahead of us," said Coach Schick. "We know that we've beat the teams that we're supposed to, in our own minds, and we have some nice challenging matches coming up to finish the season, which is great. You want to be enjoying some success and then you want to be tested and we're going to be tested next weekend and then the weekend after and the playoffs."
RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics
PHOTOS BY: James West/for UNB Athletics