The St. Thomas women’s volleyball team fought hard Sunday morning against Mount Saint Vincent, only to have come up a little short.
The women were unable to win in five sets.
Sunday’s game determined who would finish in either third or fourth place. St. Thomas is now in fourth place and will be going to the ACAA finals Feb. 26-28, where they’ll play the top four teams.
The Tommies will be up against the University of New Brunswick Saint John, Mount Saint Vincent and Mount Allison.
The Tommies fought hard to try and win their game against MSVU, but were unable to win in the final fifth set.
MSVU was up two sets and the Tommies came back with a huge win in the third set making it two-one MSVU.
The Tommies came out in the fourth set with more confidence and ready to take the next two sets.
The fourth set was the most exciting as both teams were battling for each point.
Towards the end the Tommies were down by five and it seemed as if MSVU would take the set. The Tommies came out strong to take the fourth set.
The Tommies and the Mystics played hard in the fifth, trading points back and forth.
The Mystics were able to take the final set with a score of 15-13.
Tommies coach Ed Welch said that he feels a little disappointed after losing to MSVU after they had a huge win on Wednesday night against UNBSJ.
“Here in the gym I thought that maybe we would start out on a stronger note, I know that Mount Saint Vincent lost a key match in Saint John 3-2 almost by the same scores yesterday. We wanted to have a statement game, we wanted to make a statement and I guess we failed in making the statement we wanted to make, he said.
“I guess defeat has to be educational, they have to be instructional, there are delays and we have a week left in our season and we’re still in it.”
Sunday’s game wasn’t just an ordinary game, it was the final home game of the season and the final home game for three graduating players: team captain Jayne Erickson, Michelle Vienneau and Tara Thibault.
Erickson has been a member of the women’s volleyball team for the past four years.
“She’s been our captain and we will miss her leadership and her athleticism,” said Welch.
Erickson said the game was emotional for her.
“I thought I’d cry at the beginning, but I didn’t. This team has been a big part of my life for a lot of year, four years. The idea that I know this is going to be my last year…I’m not coming back next year, I’m graduating in May. It means a lot to have everyone come out and support us and support me.”
Erickson said that the team fought especially hard.
“It was really nice to see that we didn’t just roll over. It would have been really easy to just say, ‘We’ll see you later and we’ll lose in three.’ We kept fighting and we fought hard and it was an only two point difference at the end of five. In the end it was too close for comfort.”
Welch said that the team will miss Vienneau as, “she’s been a valuable person on the team and she’s a great team player.”
Welch Joked about losing Thibault twice as she thought she wouldn’t be coming back after last season.
“We lost her twice, once at the end of last year and then this year.”
Thibault has been an essential part of the team as she is very strong in the front as a blocker.
