The St. Thomas University men’s volleyball team hosted the University of New Brunswick Saint John Seawolves on Feb. 3, in their “Think Pink” game for breast cancer awareness.
The Tommies started of the first set strong, generated from a solid block by Ryan Dickson and an ace by Nathan Brown. The Tommies took an early lead over the Seawolves of 4-1.
The Tommie stayed strong throughout the first half of the set, holding their lead. The Seawolves battled back to take the lead over the Tommies with a score of 16-15.
The Seawolves didn’t hold the lead for long, as the Tommies battled back with nice set-ups from setter Jonah Burridge.
The first set ended in a score of 25-21 for the Tommies.
The Seawolves came out on the attack in the second set, shutting down the Tommies scoring chances with hard digs, and big blocks.
The two teams had riveting rallies in the second set, it was evenly matched.
The Tommies trailed close behind by one throughout most of the second set, with chances from Adam Hamilton, Dickson and Burridge. However, Tommies failed to keep up the pace. The Seawolves took the second set, 25-21.
Into the third set the Tommies came back hard. Brown helped the Tommies take an early lead with another ace, making it 3-1. They also followed up with solid blocks, and some big saves.
The Seawolves gave the Tommies a run for their money as the UNBSJ’s Luke O’Grady gave the Seawolves a lead of 10-7 with a big hit.
Tommies and Seawolves rallied back and forth for most of the third set, keeping the score close and tying things up multiple times.
At the end the Tommies ended up taking the set with a score of 25-22.
The fourth set started off with a strong rally between the two teams, neither letting their opponent capitalize.
Tommies took the first point, and soon took off with a lead of 5-2 over the Seawolves. The Seawolves came back with some good sets and managed to tie it up with the Tommies before taking the lead.
The Tommies couldn’t seem to capitalize as the Seawolves picked up the pace, and took a 6-point lead. With the Tommies not being able to generate any chances in the fourth set, the Seawolves took it 25-21.
Into the fifth and final set, the Seawolves came out attacking, and took a quick 4-0 lead. Dickson and Christian Christie were two of the Tommies that managed to get STU on the scoreboard.
The Tommies trailed behind the Seawolves throughout the set, but still played hard and had some good chances. The Seawolves took the set 15-11, ending the match with a Seawolves victory at 3-2.
Head coach Henri Mallet wan’t impressed with the results, but said he had to give the other team some credit.
