Tigers fall 3-1 to Badgers in consolation semifinal
Victoria Turcot was named player of the game in the loss.
CALGARY – Emily Foest and Sadie Dick led the way with 15 kills apiece to push the Brock Badgers to a 3-1 (25-21, 17-25. 23-25, 21-25) win over the Dalhousie Tigers in the consolation semifinal at the U SPORTS Women's Volleyball Championship from the Jack Simpson Gym.
The Tigers started the first set strong with Ella Hornby (Calgary, AB) getting an ace with the first serve of the game. The Badgers picked up the pace and lead the Tigers 16-12 at the technical timeout. Strong blocking by Grace Calnan (Dartmouth, NS) and several big kills by Julie Moore (Halifax, NS), got the Tigers back in the game. A second Tigers ace by Kathleen Fougere (Calgary, AB) tied the game up a 20-20. The Tigers went a bit of a run highlighted by a kill by sub, Abby Jenkins (Hamilton, ON). A cross court kill by Moore saw the Tigers take the first set 25-21. Moore had 5 of her sixteen kills in the first set.
Strong hitting by Fougere, Moore and Hornby, kept the second set close early. Eventually the hitting prowess of Brock caught up with the Tigers and service error by Moore sent the teams to the technical timeout with Brock up 16-11. The Tigers came out of the timeout swinging, with kills by Victoria Turcot (Halifax, NS) and Charlotte Arsenault (Ottawa, ON) closing the gap with the Badgers, but it was not enough, and the Badgers won the set 25-17.
A very close third set highlights by continued strong hitting by Hornby and Turcot as well as three more aces by the Tigers was not enough for the win. The Badgers took the set 25-23.
Turcot's strong, player of the game play, continued in the fourth set with several more kills and another service ace added to her stat line. The Tigers could not overcome the clinical attacking of Foest who finished with a hit percentage of .407 on her 15 kills in the game.
"Brock is a really strong serving team and they caught us a few times on serve-receive," says player of the game, Turcot. "In the end, the most important part is first contact and they did a better job than us at siding out, passing, and serve-receive. That was the difference between the win and the loss today."
The Badgers were more efficient overall during the match, as their hitting percentage of .277 as a team was much cleaner than the Tigers' .215. Brock was also outstanding defensively, as they had 63 digs during the match to Dalhousie's 44.
Brock will now await the winner of the second consolation semifinal between the Calgary Dinos and the Toronto Varsity Blues, while the Tigers will square off against loser of the Dinos-Blues contest.
Mikasa Top Performers Presented by Team Nike
Brock Badgers: #9 Emily Foest
Dalhousie Tigers: #4 Victoria Turcot
As the Exclusive Volleyball Supplier of U SPORTS, Mikasa will provide match balls, as well as other prizing to the U SPORTS Men's Volleyball Championship and the U SPORTS Women's Volleyball Championship in 2022.