Women’s volleyball in AUS finals

The Tigers meet Saint Mary's to fight for the league title Feb 19. Photo by Shauna Brown

It all comes down to one game for Dalhousie’s women’s volleyball team—and they will face a team as deserving of a spot in the finals as they are.

An AUS banner will be awarded to either the No. 1 ranked Saint Mary’s Huskies or the No. 2 seeded Dalhousie Tigers in a winner-take-all showdown Feb. 19 at 2 p.m. at the University of Moncton.

Before either team confirmed their spots in the championship, the Tigers and Huskies cleaned up in the semifinals the day before.

Memorial gave Dal a challenge in their semifinal. After four back-and-forth sets resulting in a 2 – 2 tie, the Tigers saved their best for last. Dal punched their ticket to the finals with a tremendous

.409 hitting percentage to win the final set 15 – 4. Tara Gowan led the Tigers with 13 kills. She was closely followed by the 12 kills of Maggie Li and 11 from Louise Facca.

Game scores were 25 – 18, 22 – 25, 27 – 25, 21 – 25 and 15 – 4.

Saint Mary’s, the CIS No. 2 ranked outfit, had an easier time with their opponent than what Dal encountered. The Huskies beat the Moncton Aigles Bleus 3 – 1, with only a faulty third set preventing Saint Mary’s from the sweep.

The 14 – 3 Tigers will enter the championship as clear underdogs. Led by three-time conference MVP Kerri Smit, Saint Mary’s nearly had an undefeated season if not for a disappointing hiccup against the Tigers Jan. 29. After being upset in the championship last season, SMU will be motivated to avoid facing a humiliating defeat once again.

Dalhousie, of course, won’t be slouches themselves. They are, after all, the only team to have solved Saint Mary’s this season, and they’ll hope to do it again when it matters most.

Dal’s last championship was in 2005. Saint Mary’s has won three league banners since then (2006, 2007 and 2010).

A webcast of the Feb. 19 game can be watched here: http://playerv2.streamit.ca/PlayerV2.aspx?eventid=83

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