The Memorial Sea-Hawks travel to Halifax to take on the Saint Mary's Huskies this weekend to start their 2019-20 season. The Huskies come into the games after two
games this past weekend to open their season. Saint Mary's started their season at home against Dalhousie on Friday, October 25th, in which they fell to the Tigers 3-0. They followed that game with a 3-1 win against Acadia on the road on Saturday, October 26th .

The Sea-Hawks had a challenging preseason record-wise, finishing 0-8, but Coach Slauenwhite remained optimistic about what he saw from the team. "Our group is an exciting group to work with. They are very determined and motivated to work towards our goals of improving every day." SMU presents many different challenges for Memorial, with many different players to watch out for. 1st year Right Side Megan Bruhm has been leading the attack for the Huskies with 19 kills on 61 attempts, while averaging 2.71 kills per set. While Renee Cleveland and Anna Watt have been leading the team in digs with 26 and 24 respectively. 3 rd year Middle Bethany Smith has also been impressive with 3 blocks and 1 block assist in 2 games. The Hawks will have to shut down the balanced attack of the Huskies and get contributions from their young squad in order to pick up some wins this weekend.

When asked what his team will need to do in order to have success against the Huskies, Slauenwhite responded "SMU are a strong program, who are always tough. They have a well balanced offence and don't make a ton of errors. Our key to success will be serving aggressively and being prepared defensively to pick up the different shots their attack presents."

One of the things mentioned by Slauenwhite was the team's goal for the season, as the team sets them at the beginning of every season. "We are focused on getting better every day in the gym, pushing our opponents during matches, and pushing for a play-off spot." The Hawks have their hands full with the Huskies, but they have a talented squad that is hungry and capable of competing with the best teams in the AUS this season. They will have to bring their best effort this weekend if they look to start the season on the right foot.

You can watch the games live on www.austv.ca, follow the live scores of the games on www.goseahawks.ca or follow the games on Twitter on November 1st , 2nd and 3rd .



By: Darnell Downs