Seawolves fall short to the Mounties in five set marathon

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The UNB Saint John Seawolves women’s volleyball team fell to the Mount Allison Mounties by 3 sets to 2 at the G. Forbes Elliot Athletics Centre on Sunday.

The Seawolves’ loss comes just a day after they swept the St. Thomas Tommies on the road in three sets.  

The Seawolves started Julia Paslawski, Taneesha Dalling, Lena Overlander, Alannah Hansen (setter), Montanna Meyer, Dayna Alexander, and Indigo Clement (libero).

Both teams exchanged points throughout the opening set but after being tied 8-8, the Mounties managed to pull away and took the first set.

The second set was thrilling with kills from Jenna DeGooyer and Lena Overlander giving the Seawolves an early 4-1 lead, and forcing Mount Allison to call a timeout. The Mounties retaliated and pulled ahead 13-11.

An impressive serve from Meyer tied the game at 13-13. UNB errors allowed the Mounties to gain ground, 23-18,   however the Seawolves weren’t going to let their opponent get away with another set.

DeGooyer, Overlander, and Meyer landed kills and forced Mount Allison to take a time out after the score was tied 23-23.

Saint John shocked everyone in the gym with two serves from Taylor McGrattan ended the set for the Seawolves after their huge seven-point comeback.  

With the game tied 1-1, the third set began. The Seawolves took the lead 15-11 with kills from Paslawski and Madison Hartos. Mount Allison took a timeout to convene.

UNB Saint John held their ground for the remainder of the set and Paslawski and Hartos continued to shine. The pair led their team to victory in the third set, giving the Seawolves a 2-1 lead.

Hoping the end the match in four sets,  the Seawolves  took to the court with confidence. The Mounties couldn’t defend back-to-back cross-court kills from Paslawski and powerful kills from Overlander.

The Seawolves lead 15-11 and it looked like victory was approaching. Unfortunately, UNB Saint John couldn’t capitalize on their lead.

The set was tied 25-25 and a Mount Allison kill, followed by a UNB Saint John setting error forced a fifth set.

The Seawolves were off to a bad start in the final set. However, a Mounties hitting error eventually got them on the board.

Despite the chance, the Seawolves still couldn’t find their groove and seemed to lose their enthusiasm from earlier in the match as they trailed 11-4 midway through.  

Dayna Alexander slammed down a kill from the middle in final efforts to save the match but the Mounties were too far ahead to be caught.

The Seawolves gave up four straight points to fall 15-4 in the final set, and consequently lose the match, 3-2.

In their second matchup of the season against the Mount Allison Mounties, the Seawolves were unable to defeat the team that knocked them out of the ACAA championships last year.

The Seawolves finished the weekend with a win and a loss. Saint John’s loss brings their record to 3-3 as they sit in fourth place in the conference.

UNB Saint John  hits the road next weekend to Nova Scotia in back-to-back games against the Université Sainte Anne Dragons. Game times are 4pm on Saturday, and 11am on Sunday. Both matches can be streamed online at acaatv.ca.