AUS Women's Volleyball Playoffs: Saint Mary's dispatch Dalhousie, move on to AUS final against Acadia

Huskies punch ticket to AUS finals with straight sets win over Tigers 

(HALIFAX, N.S.) - The Saint Mary's Huskies are heading to the Atlantic University Sport women's volleyball championship final as they defeated the Dalhousie Tigers in straight sets (25-19, 25-22, 25-20) in the decisive game three of the semifinal series on Monday night at the Homburg Centre in Halifax. 

Saint Mary's left side Emilia Mikanovich (Minsk, Belarus) was unstoppable for the Huskies, with a monster 15 kill (36.4 hit%) performance earning her Player of the Game. 

"I'm very excited to finally beat Dal, and I'm hoping we're going to win the finals. Right now, I'm very exhausted but also excited for the finals," said Mikanovich post-game. 

The Huskies bounced back from a four-set loss on Saturday to the Tigers at the Dalplex, which forced the decisive game three at the Homburg Centre, with nearly 700 excited fans packing the building, creating an electric atmosphere. 

"I feel proud of our girls, they've been just amazing all season long, and to see them fight for everything to get there it is just remarkable," added Huskies head coach Darren Russell post-game. "Dalhousie were the U SPORTS bronze medal team last year so we knew it wasn't going to be easy and we had to come out tonight swinging hard, and I'm just so proud of the girls, they did awesome." 

 
Early in the first set, back-to-back errors for the Huskies set the tone for the highest stake match of the season so far. Nonetheless, Huskies left side Emilia Mikanovich was unflappable in the first, forcing an error and putting away a free ball from a float serve from middle Madison Hann (Conquerall Mills, NS). Meanwhile, Tigers outside Paris Stewart began a dynamic matchup against Huskies setter Taylor Lougheed (Calgary, AB) and middle Alena Piatukhova (Minsk, Belarus), trading kills and blocks.

Tigers libero Ali Nadalini had the unenviable task of fielding crosscourt blasts from Huskies MVP left side Olivia Bell (LaHave Islands, NS), corralling her attack into punishment from Tigers outside Talia Vydykhan (Hammonds Plains, NS). Bell persevered, earning a kill that she followed up with an ace. Her next float serve couldn't be recovered in-system, and Huskies right side Megan Bruhm (Hubley, NS) rose to strike it to the centre of the Tigers court. Nadalini managed to return a Bell serve cleanly for setter Hannah Ropret (Toronto, ON) to send ahead to middle Ella Hornby (Calgary, AB) to finish the counterattack. Mikanovich was dangerous even when out of system, salvaging bedlam on a deflating point for the Tigers where they somehow dug multiple Huskies blocks to no avail. 

Ahead 23-17, Huskies service specialist Paige Deering (Calgary, AB) forced a free ball with her serve that Bell ricocheted off three hapless Tigers. Eventually, Ropret had to stave off seven set points. An epic rally appeared over as the Huskies conceded a floaty bump to the Tigers, but outside Melissa Hatfield (Beaverlodge, AB) elbowed the net with her explosive follow-through yielding the first set 25-19. 

After a couple service errors, Piatukhova punched in a quick set from Lougheed to open up the second. Stewart split a pair of attacks against Piatukhova and Lougheed, before Mikanovich forced a free ball with a perfect knuckleball serve. However, Lougheed and Piatukhova were out of sync on the follow-up. After some scrappy play, Mikanovich dug a Vydykhan spike up to the rafters that returned to the earth for a Bell reply and a 5-5 tie.

However, Hornby's revenge against Mikanovich deflected to the bleachers, and the Huskies called timeout, trailing 9-5. Hann and Bell responded, teaming up to send Vydykhan's effort back to her feet, and Mikanovich continued with a kill off the blocks. Despite clean attacks from the Huskies, they were interspersed with lapses in communication in transition, and Hatfield's athleticism earned the Tigers kills in the interim. Lougheed and Piatukhova resynced, connecting for their patented quick set, and kills from Bruhm and Bell cut their deficit to 18-16.

Shaking off previous service errors, Bell dialed up an ace to send the Tigers to their huddle. Mikanovich sent a teardrop to the back corner, and a Tigers error tied the score at 19. With Bruhm on serve, the Tigers allowed easy opportunities for Piatukhova and Mikanovich. While Stewart made smart attacks to break up Huskies service sprees, Lougheed dunked a free ball to give the Huskies several set points, and Bell demolished an out-of-system assist from libero Morgan Hoskins (Bishop's Falls, NL) off the fist of Hatfield to take the second set 25-22. 

With the finals and nationals on the horizon, Bell stepped into an ace, opening what she hoped to be the ultimate set of the semis. While she sent her next service out the back, Hoskins steadied the sinking serve from Tigers middle Grace Calnan (Cole Harbour, NS), and Mikanovich added her twelfth kill crosscourt for a 3-1 lead.

Tigers setter Kirsty Longino (Calgary, AB) took a statistical hit for the team, diving to the back in a last-ditch effort to save a runaway dig, energizing the Tigers. Longino then assisted Hatfield for a punishing kill off the blocks. In response, Bell showed her hours of flight experience, floating midair before brushing the ball off the Tigers blockers. Lougheed went back to Mikanovich who unleashed a windmill for a 12-8 lead. Vydykhan and Hatfield helped stabilize a series of Tigers errors from the left side, and Hatfield and Trenke rejected another brush from Bell.

A Bell teardrop into no-Tigers land was miraculously recovered, and Stewart found a gap despite the prepared Huskies defense. Stewart and Vydykhan added two more kills, before Bell was stonewalled on consecutive attempts, and the Tigers were within 22-19.  

With the Huskies two points away from moving on, Huskies first year Brea De Souza (Oakville, ON) was substituted into the game, and the rookie made an immediate impact, covering for Hann on the right side with a heads-up tip off of Vydykhan's block to force match point.  

"I just wanted to get a point for the team, when you're in a moment like that you're just trying to send it, so Maddie (Madison Hann) called for help and I just ran and hit it off her hands and was so happy it worked out," said De Souza post-game. 

Despite desperate Tiger efforts in the dying seconds, Mikanovich delivered the dagger to win set 25-20, and end the Dalhousie dynasty.  

"I feel like it was more about emotions," said Mikanovich post-game. "We did pretty much the same plan on Thursday, Saturday and today, but it was more emotional stuff, maybe we were too confident on Saturday, but they showed us that it wasn't done yet, and today we were ready and prepared for a fight." 

The Huskies Player-of-the-Game Emilia Mikanovich had 15 kills and nine digs. Olivia Bell added 11 kills, 13 digs, and two aces. Taylor Lougheed had 27 assists, and shared three blocks with Alena Piatukhova. 

Paris Stewart had nine kills, five digs, and two blocks for the Tigers. Hannah Ropret had 16 assists, while Ali Nadalini had 11 digs. 

With the win, the Huskies move on to take on the #1 seed Acadia Axewomen to decide the AUS Championship, with the schedule yet to be announced. The Huskies win also clinches a berth at the 2024 U SPORTS Women's Volleyball Championships, which will be held March 15-17 at McMaster University in Hamilton, ON. 

"Step one is done, now we've got to get ready for step two," said Russell post-game. "But I want them to enjoy this moment and they get to experience nationals which has been one of our goals all season." 

Recap by Dr. Casper Macaulay / Saint Mary's Huskies Athletics 

Photo by Eduardo Ibarra / Saint Mary's Huskies Athletics