Fredericton, NB - It was a Jekyll and Hyde story for the St. Thomas University Tommies as they faced the Dalhousie Agricultural Campus Rams in the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association quarterfinals.
The Tommies got back four regulars for the match, including Abby Lanteigne (Fredericton, NB), Gabrielle Melanson (Fredericton, NB) and Megan Bowen (Fredericton, NB).
In spite of the return of three of their starters the teams would trade points until the match was tied 11-11, then the Rams went on a bit of a run, thanks in large part to strong serving. They would close out the first set on a 14-7 run to take the opener 25-18.
The Rams carried that momentum over into the second set as they would open up on a 14-3 run. "Dal served tough, and they got the ball to their hitters where they needed," said Tommies head coach, Don McKay, about the Rams' early success against his team. The Rams would pull ahead by a score of 18-7 before the Tommies started to show some life, closing out the set on a 15-7 run, but ultimately losing it 25-22 to go down 2-0 in the match.
"Our two subs who went in, Chloe [Little] and Lauren [Moerike], played phenomenal," said McKay about a pair of substitutions he made in the second set. Little would come off the bench to finish with 8 kills on 16 attacks, 2 aces and 14 digs, while Moerike would finish with a team high 17 digs.
With a young team like the Tommies, you can never tell how the team will respond to going down 2-0 in a match in the playoffs, but the Tommies fed off the energy in The Pit and rallied in the third set, opening up a 9-4 lead thanks to three straight kills from Lanteigne. The Tommies would never look back, taking the third set, and then ultimately forcing a fifth and deciding set with a convincing 25-10 victory.
"Abby picked up her game in the third set so that made a huge difference for us," said McKay about his rookie, who earlier in the day was named ACAA Rookie of the Year and ACAA 2nd Team All-Star.
The fifth set saw the Tommies gradually pull ahead, culminating in a Lanteigne kill to seal the comeback, 15-11. Lanteigne would finish the match with a game high 18 kills and 20 points. Sofia Miller had 14 kills for the Rams, and Allyson Briggs chipped in with 6 kills and 4 aces.
"There's no question," said McKay when asked if the energy in The Pit contributed to his team's comeback. "Anytime you have all the yelling and cheering is such a plus. On top of that energy, we still had to execute and we were getting a lot more hands on balls at the net and that helped us spark our offence."
The Tommies will await the winner of tomorrow's quarterfinal match between Holland College and Crandall to see who they will play in the semifinals on Thursday, March 10th.
Photo: SRM Photography