Roaring victory

Louise Facca led her team with 19 kills. (David Munro photo)

The Dalhousie women’s volleyball team won their second conference game of the season Nov. 10, beating the UNB Varsity Reds three sets to one at the Dalplex.

Both teams rallied hard, but Dal had something that set them apart from UNB: their kills.

The Tigers had almost double UNB’s kills, beating them 44-24 in that category. Nineteen of Dal’s were from outside hitter and team captain Louise Facca.

Throughout the entire game, Facca delivered, leading her team in kills and digs. She says she was doing what she had to.

“For me, I just really want to win the game,” says Facca, who was named player of the game. “I’m a go-to hitter, so for me it’s a consistency thing: make sure that I do my job.”

Game scores were 25-14, 25-27, 25-15 and 25-18.

The second set showed that UNB would not go down without a fight. The V-Reds led the set early, and although they weren’t at all dominant, they came out more aggressively. Dal head coach Rick Scott says this aggression is what gave them a slight edge.

“I think they came out and served a little tougher,” he says. “The biggest thing is that we made a few too many mistakes in the second set. I’ll give UNB credit, they came on and played a good second set.”

Both Scott and Facca say that what ultimately led to their win was their serving skills. Scott says he has a strong serving team and that’s what they need to be to win.

“I thought we did a good job of that, especially in the games that we won,” he says. “I’m pleased with the win.”

Another dominant player for last year’s finalists was setter Hilary Sears, who led the Tigers with 39 assists. Outside hitters Maggie Li and Tara Gowan were tied for the team lead in aces with four.

Scott says having a strong bench helped the team as well, crediting them as another key component to the win.

Dal will take on Memorial in Newfoundland Nov. 17-18. Their next home game is Nov. 24against St. Francis Xavier.