Women’s volleyball owns 2 – 2 exhibition record

St. FX sunk Dal in the closing game of the pre-season. Photo by Rob Grandy

Dal prepares at preseason tourney

The Dalhousie women’s volleyball team began their preseason for the second consecutive year with a new tradition, hosting an exhibition tournament.

This past weekend the Tigers opened strong in the five-team event with two crushing wins over the UNB Varsity Reds 3 – 0 and Acadia Axewomen 3 – 0. The following games against Saint Mary’s and St. FX were tough and did not end in the Tigers favour, losing 3 – 1 in each game.

“We were a little inconsistent today. We made a lot of mistakes,” said Dal head coach Rick Scott after Sunday’s loss to X.

“We need to be more consistent in the future. St. FX was the better team today.”

The tournament helped display some of the weaknesses the Tigers must address this season.

“We have a lot of great rookies and they’re good players, but sometimes you can still see the inexperience come out,” said outside hitter Louise Facca. “We’re just trying to get them comfortable on the court. That’s what this tournament has been all about.”

Dal also fell 3 – 1 Saturday evening against the Huskies.

“We had no game plan going into the game against Saint Mary’s. We just went out playing,” said Facca. “But now we know who their big hitters are. We know who we have to stop. So it’s just really important that we all do our jobs.”

While SMU, the only undefeated team in the tournament, returns this season with plenty of experience, so does Dalhousie with nine key veterans.

“I think we’re a stronger team,” said Scott. “We have everyone back, all of our key players, and we have some good young players that are very promising as long as they work hard.”

Shepherd and Facca agreed with their coach, praising their new counterparts.

“It’s almost the same team, just with really great rookies,” said fourth-year middle Kirstie Shepherd. “There are some really big players and they add a great new dynamic to the team, a new dynamic to the defence. They add a bigger block than what we had last year.”

The team has a few weeks to prepare before the regular season begins at the end of October.The Tigers will take this time to work on defence, servicing and their middle connection. Dal will also hope to welcome four of their injured players back into the lineup.

“This is the time of year when you want everyone to get healthy and there’s no use risking further injuries, so we didn’t play a few people to try and get them ready for the next week or two,” said Dal’s head coach.

Scott said Tigers fans, in particular, should look forward to watching Marlee Powers, Facca and Shepherd this season.

The home side opens the regular season at the Dalplex Oct. 28-29 with a three-game set. The Tigers will welcome Memorial, Cape Breton and UNB.