Wednesday recap
The UNB Saint John Seawolves men’s volleyball team was able to make quick work of their opponents on Wednesday, February 8th, beating the St. Thomas University Tommies 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-21).
The match, which was played at the G. Forbes Athletic Centre, saw the Seawolves take on their biggest rivals in front of a full home crowd.
The first set started out in favour of the Seawolves, as they were able to capitalize off some strong hits from Zane Hamilton and Nick Fraser, as well as some service errors from the Tommies.
Almost every kill the Tommies attempted was blocked by the Powerhouse Duo, Zane Hamilton and Patrick Kendall, which allowed the Seawolves to take an early 20-11 lead.
The Tommies found themselves unable to respond and the first set ended with a score of 25-18.
The second set started out strong for both teams as they traded points back and forth, and the Tommies led throughout most of it. However, a few attacks and setting errors, followed by a big kill from Luke O’Grady, allowed for the Seawolves to take the second set at 25-18.
The Tommies seemed to regain their rhythm in the third set. They were able to stay close with the Seawolves until midway through, when kills from Peter Banks, Hendrik Compagner and Nick Fraser put the Seawolves on a nine point run.
A few setting errors from the Seawolves brought the score back within four for the Tommies, but the Wolves were able to push away and ended the game with a score of 25-21.
Both UNB Saint John and St Thomas will finish up the regular seasons with games against Universite Sainte Anne (USA). The Wolves will take on USA in a home game on Saturday, February 18 at 5:00pm, while the Tommies will also host USA on Sunday, February 19 at 11:00am.
Sunday recap
The Seawolves completed their home and home weekend series against the Holland College Hurricanes on Sunday afternoon at the G. Forbes Athletic Centre. Both games resulted in a 3-1 loss for the Seawolves.
Holland College was able to take an early 4-0 lead in the first game that they did not give up. The Seawolves were unable to push past Holland’s incredible middle blockers and this, combined with errors the Seawolves kept encountering, resulted in a quick 25-17 loss.
The second set saw Holland take another early lead, but this time the Wolves, led by Hamilton, were able to counter the attack. Both teams traded points back and forth and were tied at 22-22 when the Seawolves took a time-out.
A few errors from the Hurricanes, followed by a service ace from Seawolves setter, Patrick Kendall, allowed the Wolves to win the set 28-26, and even up the match 1-1.
Unfortunately, the Seawolves were unable to capitalize on the excitement, and the Hurricanes were able to go on a 10-3 lead, which solidified their position in the game.
A score of 19-14 for the Hurricanes forced the Seawolves to take another time-out, but this did not seem to do much good, with service errors near the end of the set resulting in a loss of 18-25.
The fourth and final set saw some competitiveness from the Seawolves, and they were able to stay on par with the Hurricanes. Unfortunately a big kill from the Hurricanes resulted in a 23-25 loss, which ended the game 3 sets to 1 for the Hurricanes.
The second match saw both teams trading points back and forth, and they stayed close in score until midway through the first set, when Holland was able to go on a four point run. The Seawolves then called for a time-out, which seemed to rejuvenate them. The first set ended with two big kills from O’Grady and a score of 25-22 for the Wolves.
The second set started out strong for the Seawolves, with them leading for the majority of the time, and it wasn’t until a couple of errors from the Wolves that the Hurricanes bounced back. The set ended with a service ace from Holland and a score of 25-18.
After the second set, the Wolves appeared to have lost some of their mojo which allowed the Hurricanes to go on several runs. The Wolves found themselves unable to respond, and the third ended very quickly with a score of 25-13.
A big team chat in between sets brought the Seawolves back in focus, and they were able to trade points back and forth with the Hurricanes. Midway through, the Hurricanes were able to pull away and a few big blocks at the end closed the deal, ending the set 25-18 for Holland.
With the wins, Holland have finished their regular season games and solidified their first place standing for playoffs, which take place in Truro, Nova Scotia, at Dal AC from February 24-26.
Games can be streamed at acaatv.ca
