Tommies Sweep Blue Devils

Fredericton, NB - The St. Thomas University Tommies team came away with a clean sweep against the University of King's College Blue Devils at the Lady Beaverbrook Gym.

The first set started with the Blue Devils setting an early 6-1 lead, but the momentum quickly shifted as STU was able to turn their passes into points with their high-flying offense. The lead grew off of a few service and attack errors on the Blue Devil's side. STU capitalized on the mistakes, as they continuously found the court off their aced serves and attacks. As momentum grew on the Tommies' side of the net, Kathleen Boyle (Fredericton, NB) propelled STU to a lead with four kills.

The rest of the set saw both teams try to establish a consistency in their attacks as both sides traded kills, as STU finished with a 25-18 set win.

The second set saw much of the same high offense strategy used to win the first set, as the ball continuously found the Blue Devil's floor in a fast paced match.

Tommies' head coach Don McKay said this was the plan heading into the match.

"We didn't want to give them many free balls," McKay said. "Even if that meant sending over a roll shot instead".

After a back-and-forth start to the second set, Chloe Little (Rexton, NB) scored an ace serve to establish a two-point lead.

The Blue Devils and Tommies had a competitive set with multiple long rallies. This trend continued until Boy scored back to back kills - one of which being a well-placed roll shot and the other an explosive cross-court attack. The second set finished 25-19 for STU.

The Tommies scored the third set's first five points, with consistent serving and a block from Maddie Macgregor (Truro, NS).

Abbey Lanteigne (Fredericton, NB) also contributed to STU's lead, getting herself multiple kills in the third set. 

Boyle said she felt optomistic after the Tommies' win.

"We came ready to play," she said. "We passed well, which led to good sets and that led to lots of offense".

The Tommies are now at an even 2-2 record, as they'll take on the Mount Saint Vincent University Mystics on Nov. 12 at the Lady Beaverbrook Gym First serve is at 12:00. UKC will play the same day and same time, as they visit the University of New Brunswick Saint John Seawolves.

Recap by: Koan Walker