X-Women Volleyball wins 7th straight match, clinches AUS playoff bye

The X-Women volleyball team won their 7th consecutive match with a 3-1 win over the Saint Mary’s Huskies, and in doing so clinched a first round AUS playoff bye.

Heading into the Saturday afternoon match, the X-Women and Huskies were tied for first place overall with 20 points a piece, but the streaking X-Women pulled off the four set match win with scores of 18-25, 26-24, 25-19 and 25-22 to improve to 11-7 as they close out regular season play. The X-Women now hold a two-point edge in the standings over the Huskies (10-7) and are four points ahead of both UNB (9-8) and Acadia (9-8).

SMU, UNB and Acadia are all in action Sunday afternoon fighting for the second AUS playoff bye. Should Saint Mary’s defeat Cape Breton, the X-Women should still hold onto top spot in the conference as they will have the tie breaker edge over the Huskies. Cape Breton and Dalhousie have also clinched playoff berths at the AUS championship, taking place next weekend, Feb. 19-21 at Saint Mary’s university.

In Saturday’s win at the SMU Tower, the X-Women were led on the attack by Katherine Ryan and Catherine Thornton, as they have been so many times throughout this season. Ryan scored 18 points on 18 kills and also contributed 10 digs. Thornton had 14.5 points with 13 kills, 1 ace, 1 block and 10 digs.

Alex Quinn played a solid game for X with 12.5 points, 7 kills, 2 aces and 4 blocks. Jessica Nichols scored 8.5 points and had 4 kills, 1 ace, 5 blocks and 18 digs. Setter Heather Isenor had 32 set assists and also had 2 serving aces and 13 digs. Libero Leah McInnis continued her strong defensive play for the X-Women, recording 18 digs in the match.

Kerri Smit posted 19 points, 18 kills, 2 blocks and 14 digs for the Huskies while Alison Beaver had 12.5 points, 10 kills and 12 digs.

The victory marked the X-Women’s 7th consecutive win and 10th in their past 11 games. Their only loss since resuming play in January was a 5 set loss in Fredericton to the Varsity Reds. They will await Sunday results to see how the final AUS seedings pan out for the upcoming AUS championship.

StFX Sports Information