Saint John, NB – The University of New Brunswick Saint John Seawolves handed the Dalhousie AC Rams a 3-1 (25-23, 7-25, 25-15, 25-17) Sunday afternoon at the G. Forbes Elliot Athletic Centre.
The Rams would jump out to an early 16-11 lead on the Seawolves before a pair of rookies would make an impact for the home team. Sophia Saad would check into the game and score a pair of quick points for the Seawolves to cut the deficit to 18-15. Her teammate, Emily Robichaud, would come up with an outstanding diving dig that would lead to another Seawolves kill en route to an opening set victory. Robichaud would finish the match with a game high of 17 points; 6 kills, 10 service aces and a solo block.
"Emily made a bunch of serves for us today, and that pretty much won us a couple sets," said Seawolves head coach, Colin Chambers.
As well as the first set went for the Seawolves, the second set was a different story as the Rams would jump out to an early 8-0 lead before pushing it to 20-3 and ultimately taking the set 25-7. The Seawolves didn't help themselves in the set, committing 8 attacking errors and were not sharp passing.
"First play of the set went against us, and the team sort of looked over to the bench, and then we shanked a pass," said Chambers. "Then we tried to rally and regroup, but then another shanked pass. Then we were on the net. It just wasn't our set."
The Seawolves would rally in the third and fourth sets to close out the match.
"I think we lost a bit of focus in the second set. Near the end of the set, we took out a bunch of our starters to give them a bit of a break, rest their legs and refocus," added Chambers. "After the set we told our team to restart. It was 1-1, and after we looked that bad in the second set and we are still tied, let's take advantage of that."
Callie Immerkar led the Rams with 11 points on 8 kills, 2 aces and a pair of block assists.
The loss moves the Rams to 3-8, and the Seawolves move to 6-5.
Next action for the Rams comes in the form of a mid-week clash on Wednesday against the Mount Allison Mounties, while the Seawolves will host the Holland College Hurricanes on Saturday, January 28th.