The Tommies men’s volleyball team fell short in its quest for a fourth consecutive conference banner.
St. Thomas University fell 3-0 to the University of New Brunswick Saint John Seawolves on Saturday night in the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association men’s semifinals.
In women’s action, the Tommies were edged 3-0 by UNBSJ in the quarterfinal Friday afternoon.
During the men’s semis, the Seawolves took the first set 25-21 before prevailing 26-24 in the second and 25-22 in the third.
UNBSJ took an early 6-4 lead in the opening game before STU made it 7-6 and stayed within shouting distance until the Seawolves pulled ahead after a 9-6 run.
The Tommies trailed 22-13 late in the set before fighting back and cracking 20 points, but the contest was already out of STU’s reach.
In the second set of what was a back-and-forth, hard-fought match, STU went up 4-3 near the beginning, but UNBSJ kept tying it up.
The Seawolves eventually pulled ahead 15-14, but the Tommies kept chipping away and tied it at 24 to force extra points. That’s when UNBSJ capitalized on a sudden momentum shift and took a two-game lead on the match.
In the third, it was mostly STU from the get-go, but the Seawolves kept nipping at the Tommies’ heels and kept tying it up as the two teams kept trading offensive outputs.
After tying the set at 20 points apiece, UNBSJ pulled ahead and didn’t look back.
Luke O’Grady led UNBSJ with nine kills and 13 digs, while Peter Banks added eight kills and six digs.
Stephane Blinn had nine kills and 11 digs for STU. Twin brother Marc Blinn chipped in with six assists and five digs.
In the women’s quarterfinal on Friday, the Seawolves won the opening set 25-21 before the Tommies edged UNBSJ 26-24 in both the second and third games.
The Seawolves took a lopsided 25-11 decision in the fourth set before coming out on top by a margin of 15-11 in the fifth and final game.
Off the court, three STU players earned ACAA all-conference honours for their efforts this season.
For the third straight year, Stephane Blinn was named player of the year for men’s volleyball, while Marc Blinn earned a nod to the all-conference team.
Stephane, a two-time all-conference player, led the ACAA in kills with 207 and kills per set with four. He had a league-leading kill percentage with .256 and was also fifth in the conference in digs with 100.
A former ACAA player of the year, Marc paced the conference in assists per set with 7.75. As well, he finished third in service aces with 19 and recorded eight kills, 87 digs and 18 blocks on the season in 2016-17.
On the women’s side, Deidra Jones, a fourth-year left-side hitter for the Tommies, was chosen as a second-team conference all-star for her 148 kills, 205 digs and 24 blocks, along with 39 service aces.
