Varsity Reds topped by Queen's twice in pre-season action

The UNB Varsity Reds men's volleyball team struggled to find some consistency and rhythm in this weekend's pre-season double match-up against the Queen's Gaels.

UNB lost both games, going down on 1-3 (18-25, 20-25, 25-21, 13-15) on Friday night and 0-3 (21-25, 14-25, 18-25) on Saturday afternoon.

On Friday night, they hit the Richard J. CURRIE CENTER for their first home appearance of the pre-season. UNB got off to a tough start, losing the first two sets. They managed to take back the third set but couldn't keep the momentum going, and Queen's would take the next set and the game. Leading the scoring for UNB was Marc White with 10.5 points. Following White was Ryan Colpitts with 8 points. 

Colpitts suffered a twisted ankle during the last play of the third set. He sat out the remainder of Friday's game and the entirety of the game on Saturday.

Saturday's game was also plagued by inconsistency, and UNB went down in three straight sets. Leading the scoring for UNB was Marc White again, this time with 12 points. Not far behind him was Craig Toonders with 11.5 points. 

Head coach Dan McMorran says this weekend's performance was a bit disappointing, especially after seeing the same team recently play at a much higher level in Manitoba.

"We were a Jekyll and Hyde team from the team that was out west," McMorran said. "There were times when some of us played well, and we just weren't able to keep the consistency up with that."

McMorran says he plans to use this weekend's experience as an opportunity to make necessary changes and improvements to prepare for the fast-approaching Interlock tournament at Memorial.

"That's kind of what the preseason is about," he said. "It's about trying to iron some of the kinks out. [...] It's about learning every time we get on the floor. Hopefully we did that today."

The Varsity Reds play next on October 24 when they travel to Memorial University for the AUS-RSEQ Interlock tournament.