Saint Mary’s, Acadia to play for volleyball title
The Saint Mary’s Huskies ended the 10-year championship reign of the Dalhousie Tigers in Atlantic University Sport women’s volleyball on Monday night at a packed Homburg Centre.
Player of the match Emilia Mikanovich pounded 15 kills and senior Olivia Bell added 11 kills and 13 digs as the Huskies won 25-19, 25-22, 25-20 to take the best-of-three semifinal 2-1.
Bell, the conference MVP, said the Huskies regrouped on Monday night after suffering a 3-1 setback in a match they let get away on Saturday.
“It was super important for us to play like a team tonight. That’s something we have struggled with at times,” said Bell. “We have a team full of high talent and sometimes it’s tough to put those puzzle pieces together.”
The pieces fit together in the deciding match as the Huskies took advantage of a Dal serve receive that was missing 2023 AUS MVP and 2024 first-team all-star Lucy Glen-carter, who was out with an injury.
The pressure serving put Dalhousie setters on the run and forced 21 hitting errors by the Tigers. Paris Stewart led the Tigers with nine kills, while Ella Hornby had five.
Unlike in Saturday’s loss, the Huskies kept their composure and didn’t allow the Tigers any big runs.
“I think everyone was dialled in,” said Bell. “Our philosophy for tonight’s game was one point at a time. It didn’t matter if we were up or down, we were winning that next point.”
Huskies head coach Darren Russell expected a hardfought series from Dalhousie, led by interim head coach Michelle Aucoin.
“Dal is an amazing team, they have always been a strong defensive team, they block well and they hit,” said Russell. “It was a good series and we knew we couldn’t let up on them again.
“The willpower of Olivia (Bell) and Emilia (Mikanovich), they picked people up and carried them on their shoulders to the finish line.”
The semifinal win earned the Huskies a championship date with the first-place Acadia Axewomen, who defeated the UNB Reds 3-1 to wrap up their semifinal on Monday night.
Saint Mary’s and Acadia secured berths at the U Sports national championship in Hamilton, March 15-17, courtesy of Dalhousie’s bronze medal win in 2023, that allowed the AUS to send two teams.
Bell said the team will enjoy the victory for a night, but then it’s back to work to try and win the school’s first conference championship since 2012.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Bell. “I’ve been here for five years and obviously, we haven’t been successful in playoffs in that time. The job is not finished and as much as we want to soak this all in, we have to refocus for the championship match.”
The second-place Huskies handed the first-place Axewomen four of their five losses this year, but Russell knows the slate is cleaned for the best-of-three final with Acadia holding home-court advantage.
“So the best thing for us now is to try to recoup after a tough series and get ready for Acadia,” said Russell. “In this league, anyone can beat anyone. Acadia is a really tough team and we have to steal one on the road in a tough gym.”
Axewomen 3, Reds 1:
Alexia Lemay-evans pounded 20 kills and Jenna Lake 16 as Acadia advanced to the championship match with a 25-21, 25-19, 19-25, 28-26 victory in Wolfville.
SMU OUSTED IN WOMEN’S HOCKEY SEMIFINALS
Jorja Nystrom scored the game-winning goal with 1:42 left in the third period as UNB edged Saint Mary’s 2-1 in Game 4 of the best-of-five AUS women’s hockey semifinals, eliminating the Huskies from the playoffs.
Ashley Penney opened the scoring on the power play late in the second period. But Sydney Oitomen tied it at 1-all 11:33 into the third, setting up Nystrom’s series-clinching goal late in the period.
Kendra Woodland made 34 saves in the UNB goal. The Reds will face either the St. Francis Xavier X-women or St. Thomas Tommies in the conference championship.
X-women 3, Tommies 1: At Fredericton, Maggy Burbidge’s shorthanded goal late in the second period stood as the winner in the Game 4 road victory as St. F.X. evened the semifinal series. The fifth and deciding game will be held Thursday in Antigonish.