X-Women win DAL volleyball invitational

The X-Women volleyball team opened pre-season exhibition play this weekend with a tournament win at the Dalhousie Scotia Bank Invitational tournament in Halifax.

With a 3-1 tournament record, the X-Women took home top honors, followed by the host Dalhousie Tigers in second and Saint Mary’s Huskies in third place.

The X-Women’s one tournament loss came at the hands of the Huskies in their first match on Friday night as the Huskies won 3-1 with set scores of 25-20, 25-20, 17-25 and 25-19. Freshman middle blocker Jessica Roberts was named the Player of the Game for the X-Women.

StFX picked up two wins on Saturday as they defeated the Acadia Axewomen in straight sets 3-0 with scores of 25-25, 25-18 and 25-15, followed by a closer 3-2 victory over the UNB Varsity Reds. Scores against UNB were 13-25, 25-15, 25-22, 25-27 and 15-8. Setter Heather Isenor picked up Player of the Game honors for StFX against Acadia while left side hitter and reigning AUS Player of the Year Catherine Thornton was the Player of the Game in the UNB match.

In their final tournament match on Sunday morning, the X-Women defeated the host Dalhousie Tigers 3-0 with close games of 27-25, 25-17 and 27-25. Freshman left/right side hitter Michaela Varlova was the Player of the Game for the X-Women.

At the conclusion of the five-team tournament, Catherine Thornton was named the Tournament Most Valuable Player while teammate Heather Isenor was named to the tournament all-star team.

Lauren Smith (Dalhousie) was the tournament’s top libero while the remaining all-stars included Keri Smit and Ali Beaver from Saint Mary’s, Raessa Lalani (Dalhousie), Pam Giordani (Acadia) and Jill Blanchard (UNB).

The X-Women will have some time off before participating in the UNB Invitational tournament Oct. 15-17 in Fredericton.