The Memorial Sea-Hawks (0-9) visit the Dalhousie Tigers (8-0) this weekend in hopes of shutting down the tough Tigers squad and getting into the win column on January 10th, 11th, and 12th.
Memorial visits Halifax to face the number one ranked seed in the AUS. With an undefeated season ongoing, the Tigers have won 7 consecutive AUS titles and are currently ranked 2nd in U Sports. This marks the first meeting between the two squads this season and will be the first action for the Sea-Hawks since mid-November.
The Tigers are led by Victoria Haworth and Julie Moore, who have 46 and 93 kills respectively, the young Sea-Hawks will be looking to keep the offensive stars contained. Defensively, the Sea-Hawks will also be watching Victoria Haworth, who leads the Tigers in both solo blocks and block assists.
The Sea-Hawks will be looking to ignite some offensive fire of their own, which is led by Outside Hitters Alyssa Warford and Kaitlyn Kuchinka, who have a combined total of 156 kills this season, averaging 2.41 and 2.11 kills per set respectively. Libero Katie Wagar will also be a crucial component of a successful weekend, as she leads the team in Digs with 191, just one-off her last season total in 7 fewer games.
The Sea-Hawks are eager to get back to work after the lengthy break. Coach Slauenwhite noted that the "team has been working hard in the gym to prepare for the start of the second half on the road". As for this coming weekend, Slauenwhite mentioned the goal for the Sea-Hawks who match up against one of the top teams in the country is "to focus on how we prepare for each point, execute, and take care of the things that we are in control of and continue to improve on our successes from the first term."
While these two teams have had opposite results thus far, this weekend is yet another opportunity for the young Sea-Hawks players to gain experience against one of the best teams in Canada. Memorial has taken three of their past four games to 5 sets, which shows the progression of the team from the beginning of the season. Setting duties so far have been split between Julia Bartlett, Margaret Henley, and rookie Erica Rafuse. This will be something to keep an eye on this coming weekend vs. Dalhousie.
As for the Dalhousie Tigers, they look to stay undefeated this season and continue the success they have had for the past several seasons.
Make sure to tune in to the games at 7:30 pm NST on January 10th and 11th, as well as 1:30 pm NST the 12th. 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.
Written by: Tyler Griffin