X-Women volleyball 4th at UNB Invitational

The X-Women volleyball team competed in the five-team UNB Invitational tournament in pre-season exhibition action this past weekend, and came away with two wins and three losses, finishing fourth overall.

In the fourth place game versus Moncton on Sunday, the X-Women defeated the Aigles Bleues 3-2 with set scores of 20-25, 18-25, 25-19, 25-22 and 15-7. Rookie Laura Chisholm led the way as the leading point getter with 22 points (15 kills, 4 aces, 3 blocks) and 13 digs. Julie Gillis and
Jessica Nichols chipped in with 15 and 12 kills respectively. Megan Pothier was solid defensively with 20 digs.

Saturday the X-Women lost matches against Acadia and Cape Breton, both by 3-1 scores. Set scores against Acadia were 21-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-22. Alex Quinn was leading point getter with 21 points (15 kills, 4 aces and 2 blocks) while Catherine Thornton was solid with 16 kills, 1 ace and 11 digs. Rookie Maria Dunphy added 1 ace and 14 digs.

Cape Breton defeated he X-Women with scores of 25-16, 16-25, 25-13, 28-26. Catherine Thornton led the way for X with 18 points (15 kills, 2 aces and a block) and 13 digs. Heather Isenor added 32 assists and 3 kills and Leah McInnis had 25 digs.

On Friday, the X-Women faced a tough host UNB squad, who went on to win the tournament with a 5-0 record. The Varsity Reds defeated the X-Women 3-1 (25-17, 25-27, 25-23, 25-11). Thornton led the X-Women with 11 kills, 2 aces and 6 digs. Layla Calvi added 4 kills and 5 blocks while Isenor added 12 digs and 33 assists.

In their first game of the tournament, StFX defeated Moncton 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-22). Thornton again led the way with 16 kills, while Alex Quinn added 10 kills and 3 blocks. Leah McInnis contributed 15 digs.

UNB (5-0) won the tournament with a 3-1 win over Acadia (3-3) in the championship game. Cape Breton (3-2) placed third, followed by StFX (2-3) and Moncton (0-5).

Catherine Thornton was named to the tournament all-star team, along with Megan Brown (CBU), Shawna McFadyen (ACA), Jill Blanchard (UNB), Meg Rector (ACA) and Jenna Wamsley (UNB). UNB’s Rebecca Glancy was named the Tournament MVP.

One week prior the X-Women competed in the Saint Mary’s Invitational tournament in Halifax, playing four matches and finishing with a 1-3 record.

Losses came in their opening three games against UNB (3-0), Dalhousie (3-1) and Saint Mary’s (3-1). The X-Women rebounded on the final day to shut out the Dalhousie Tigers 3-0. 

StFX has a break from competition this upcoming weekend and will begin AUS regular season competition on Sunday, Nov. 1 when they travel to Acadia for a match against the Axewomen. The X-Women will play their home opener on Thursday, Nov. 5 when they host the Saint Mary’s Huskies at 7:00 pm at the StFX Oland Centre.