Dalhousie women’s volleyball team ends season with playoff loss to UNB

Despite a rocky start to the regular season, the Dalhousie University women’s volleyball team clawed its way back to the playoffs, sliding in as the fourth seed.

After starting the season with a 3-7 record in the fall semester, the tides turned for the Tigers when their captain returned from injury. Patrick Murray, the team’s head coach, said Annik Boldon’s return revitalized the team and helped them power their way into the playoffs.

“Her return to our lineup certainly gave us a big boost,” said Murray. “It was statistically significant for us through the second half.”

Boldon came in clutch for the Tigers, earning an Atlantic University Sport second team all-star nod.

“It’s definitely an honour,” said Boldon. “But at the end of the day, we always say that the only award that we really care about is getting white hats.” 

Boldon and her team knew getting into the playoffs would be a tall task.

“We were in a position with our backs against the wall,” Boldon said. “We knew making the playoffs was obviously a huge goal for us, and we weren’t going to stop until we got there.

Dal’s playoff berth set up a semifinal matchup against the University of New Brunswick, an undefeated team through the 2025-26 regular season. Dalhousie came out swinging, winning the first match in the best-of-three series. UNB recovered and won the next two matches, ending the Tigers’ hope of a championship.

Dalhousie and UNB developed a healthy rivalry this season, playing each other seven times.

“It didn’t feel like there was any animosity or anything,” said Murray. “It’s one of those fun rivalries with a team that you really enjoy playing against.”

Boldon echoed this sentiment.

“I have a lot of respect for those girls. They’ve worked really hard for this.”

Paris Stewart, a fourth-year cinema and media studies student, said the team plans to carry the lessons from this season forward as new players join the roster.

“This year really taught us that you can’t let up on the gas pedal,” said Stewart. “I’m just excited to see how we use the season not ending how we wanted as fuel for next year.”

Boldon is graduating at the end of this semester and will move on with the valuable memories that shaped her university career. 

“Even if I’m missing three white hats. I have gained a lot more,” said Boldon. “I can’t really put [her time at Dal] into words.”