UNB tops Acadia 3-2 to advance to Subway AUS championship semifinal

(FREDERICTON, N.B.) - The third-ranked University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds women's volleyball team defeated the sixth-ranked Acadia Axewomen in a thrilling five-set AUS championship quarter-final game in front of close to 1,000 people at the Richard J. Currie Center.

The game was a true nail-biter that had the enthusiastic crowd on the edge of their seats. The Axewomen and the Varsity Reds went point for point throughout all five extremely close sets.

The first set went to Acadia 26-24. UNB would come back to take the second 25-21. Acadia answered back in the third set and took it 25-20. UNB managed to take back the momentum and stay alive to force the game to a fifth deciding set, taking the fourth 25-23.

In the fifth set, the Axewomen came on strong, taking an early lead. The V-Reds rallied back and managed to come out just ahead, taking the final set 16-14 and the game 3-2.  

UNB rookie Janie-Eve Doucet (Fredericton, N.B.) tallied 12 kills and 13 digs, while Vanja Mitrovic (a first team all-star, also from Fredericton) put up an impressive 12 kills and nine digs.

Sarah Ross (a second team all-star from Toronto, Ont.) was strong on the court for Acadia with 18 kills and 14 digs. Carlotta Frasca (Rome, Italy) was not far behind with 16 kills and 12 digs.

Subway player of the game for Acadia was libero Hillary Monette (New Minas, N.S.) who had an impressive 33 digs. Jacqueline Sebetovsky (Eastern Passage, N.S.) was named Subway player of the game for UNB. Sebetovsky delivered 12 kills and 11 digs.

After the game, Sebetovsky gave credit to Acadia's defence.

"They've always been a really good team," Sebetovsky said. "They dug up a whole lot of balls, their defence was excellent."

Although it was close throughout, Sebetovsky believed in her team every step of the way.

"I felt like nobody gave up hope on the team. It never felt like we couldn't do it. I'm happy that the whole team managed to keep our confidence and pull it off at the end."

UNB moves on to play the second-ranked Dalhousie Tigers in the Subway AUS championship semi-final on Saturday, Feb. 14, at 7 p.m.

Source: Sam Lagacy for UNB Sports Communications