REDS Fall 3-1 To Carabins

(FREDERICTON, NB) The Université de Montreal Carabins rallied from a set down to beat the UNB REDS 3-1 Friday evening in RSEQ men's volleyball action at UNB's Richard J. Currie Center.

"It was a good match," said veteran REDS hitter Eduardo Luchese (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil). "I thought we played well. We were expecting to win today, we had high hopes. But now it's all about battling back and being better tomorrow."

The first set began with the teams going back-and-forth, trading the first 18 points of the game to 9-9.

The REDS took leads of 11-9 and 12-10 before Montreal fashioned a 3-0 run to go up 13-12.

UNB then strung points together to take an 18-16 lead on route to winning the opening set 25-22.

The close nature of the match continued in the second set, neither team able to build more than a two-point advantage until the Carabin went ahead 10-6, prompting a UNB time-out.

Montreal extended their lead to 12-6, but a 3-0 run on the serving of Luchese pulled the REDS to within two, at 14-12.

Down 23-16, the REDS put together a 3-0 run, closing the gap to 23-19, but the visitors won the second set 25-22.

In the third, the REDS had to fight from behind early, drawing even at 10-10 before pulling ahead 12-10 on some strong blocking.

After surrendering the lead and trailing 16-13, the REDS called a third set time-out.

The strong Montreal attack was too much for the REDS and the visitors won the third set 25-18.

The fourth set saw the REDS fall behind once again and, once again, claw their way back in.

The teams traded points deep into the set.

When Montreal went up 21-20, REDS head coach Dan McMorran used another time-out.

The Carabins then added two more points, going ahead 23-21.

Again, UNB rallied, drawing even at 23-23.

The teams traded points to 25-25 before Montreal scored the final points of the match to win the set 27-25 and the match three sets to one.

"They were better on defence and they outplayed us on the block," said Luchese. "We played like we were on a bit of a roller-coast, up and down. We need to find more consistency for tomorrow."

Simon Coulet (Aubenas, France) led the Carabins with 12 kills, while Alexandre St-Denis (Ottawa, ON) had 19 digs.

Luchese recorded a game-high 13 kills for UNB while Lucas Maffia (Victoria, BC) registered seven digs and 40 assists.

The loss is the first of the season for the REDS, now 2-and-1.

Montreal is 1-and-2.

The REDS and Carabins will wrap up their weekend series on Saturday afternoon. First serve is scheduled for 1:00pm.

RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics

PHOTOS BY: James West/for UNB Athletics