A Marathon Contest

The first set in the men's game between the Rattlers and the Lions was a very spirited match. Both teams traded serves and kills throughout with a few long rallies and point saving scrambles. Neither team could grab a big enough foothold to put it out of reach. Lion Keaton Strom, was solid behind the line serving some very effective balls late in the match. This service allowed the Lions to pull away just enough to clinch a first set win 23-25.

Visibly upset the rattlers came out in the second set on a mission. Jumping out to a 5-1 lead the Rattlers attack caused the Lions Coaching staff to call a timeout. This sparked the Lion offence awake just enough to get a few on the board. Medicine hat again pressured with some quick attacks widening their lead again. The lead fluctuated but never moved below four points as the Rattlers closed out the second set with a 25-18 win.

The Third set started much like the first with both teams trading side outs and serves. High Powered attacks from both teams brought the ceiling into play with attempted digs hitting beams above. By 15 points the Rattlers had opened up a 5-point lead coming from some exceptional kills and serving. Ambrose refused to quit fighting hard for every point but ultimately came up short losing to the Rattlers 25-19

The Fourth set saw a Lions team who wanted to extend the match desperately and came out of the gate swinging. They jumped out to an early 8-4 lead with another strong service from Keaton Strom. The Lions did not let up from here riding the serves of Adam Morris to extend the lead to seven. Poor Net defense from the rattlers allowed Lion hitters free lanes to open court. The early deficit was insurmountable for the rattlers who dropped the fourth set 25-19 Forcing a 5^th set.

The 5^th set opened with teams trading aggressive attacks and big serves. At the side switch the rattlers had opened up a narrow 3 point margin. Vitor Pereira stepped behind the line and started his run of impressive serving. Unable to pass the hard serve, Vitor controlled the game to open a 6 point margin. A few traded serves both ways saw the score creep closer to game. The Lions Would not quit. Digging up every ball they could touch, it was too little too late as the Rattlers had established a big enough lead to close out the match 15-11.