Huskies Steal AUS Final Opener
(FREDERICTON, NB) The Saint Mary's Huskies sent a capacity UNB crowd home disappointed by stealing the opening match of the 2026 Atlantic University Sport Women's Volleyball Championship series, presented by Bell, from the REDS.
The Huskies scored a 3-1 victory with set scores of 22-25, 28-26, 25-19, and 25-14.
The match was played before a capacity crowd of 1456 at UNB's Richard J. Currie Center.
The REDS established themselves early, racing out to an 8-2 lead which brought a timeout call from Huskies' head coach Darren Russell.
The tactic worked and the visitors put together a 4-0 run to cut into UNB's lead.
Each team then manufactured short runs, including a 5-0 run by the REDS to go ahead 16-9.
The Huskies fought back on a couple of occasions, closing the gap to just two points, at 21-19, but the REDS would not be beaten, taking the set 25-22.
The second set saw the REDS, once again, build an early lead.
After a Heather Benko ace made it 8-3, the Huskies took a timeout, but the REDS' run continued and they went up 12-3.
A 4-0 run by the Huskies trimmed the UNB lead to four points at 15-11.
Down 24-18, Saint Mary's fought back, drawing even at 24-24 on their way to winning an extended set 28-26.
In the third It was the Huskies pushing out to an early 6-4 lead.
The REDS struggled to find any footing in the set and trailed throughout as the Huskies scored a 25-19 win to go up two-sets-to-one.
In the fourth, the REDS went up early, but the Huskies seized the momentum with a 5-0 run, making it 5-2, and never looked back, taking the set 25-14 and the match 3-1.
Esther Wildeboer led the Huskies offensively, striking a match-high 21 kills. She was named Boston Pizza Player of the Game.
Alena Piatukhova and Emilia Mikanovich each contributed 11 kills. Piatukhova added half a dozen blocks and Mikanovich added 14 digs.
Grace Blaskovits pitched 36 assists.
For the REDS, Jenna Adams had a match-high 19 digs while Lydia Green struck nine kills and had 10 digs.
Sonya Nielsen hit 10 kills, Talia Nixon contributed 30 assists, and Danielle Krzywonos put up three blocks.
The Huskies, up 1-0 in the best of three series, will host the second match. That takes place Tuesday night, at SMU's Homburg Centre. First serve is scheduled for 7:00pm.
If necessary, a deciding match would be back at UNB's Currie Center on Thursday. First serve would be at 7:00pm.
RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB REDS
PHOTOS BY: Fran Harris/for UNB REDS