Lions Come Up Short In Marathon Game Against Rattlers

For the second week in a row, the Ambrose Lions went the distance with their visiting opponents to the full 5 sets and came up just short of the victory. Adrian Strandberg was Ambrose's Player of the Game, scoring 19 kills on the night, while Alfred Dalevik was the Rattlers POG.

Medicine Hat came out swinging, taking the lead 15-8 after a kill from Dalevik from the outside. The Lions inched their way back and cut the lead to 20-22 after an ace from Mark Fountain, but the Rattlers would close out the opening set after a stuff block on Lions middle Brodie Juul-Hansen by MHC setter Nikola Srekovic.

The Rattlers continued their consistent play into the second set, holding a 3-point lead throughout the set while the Lions' offense struggled and couldn't chip into the lead. Down 24-19, an Ambrose missed serve made it 2-0 for the Rattlers.

The home team took their offense into the next gear as the third set began; Strandberg and fellow leftside Adam Morris seemed to score the ball at will as the Lions also turned their service pressure up. A kill from Morris out of the rightside put the Lions up 21-17 and forced a Rattlers timeout from head coach Mark Porter. Unforced errors and a few more Lions kills would finish the third set, ending on a missed serve at 24-20 from Rattlers rightside KeAndre Evans, who also put together a solid offensive performance throughout the match.

Both teams fought through a high number of errors early in the fourth set, including a run of 5 missed serves in a row by the Lions, to emerge tied 12-12. Serving runs from Ryan Andres and Graeson Bergen put some distance between the Lions and Rattlers, leading 20-16 as Medicine Hat's offense began to unravel. Unforced errors further hurt the Rattlers chances of coming back, before Andres gave the ball to Adam Morris for set point and scored out of the rightside to send the game to its final set.

The teams battled for every point in the first half of the 5th set, Lions leading 7-6 before a backcourt violation by the Rattlers put the Lions up 8-6. The teams would have to keep themselves warm for the next ten minutes, as play was stopped entirely to accommodate an official protest of the ruling by the Medicine Hat coaching staff. When the dust settled, the call remained in Ambrose's favour, but the Rattlers immediately went on a 5-1 run to take an 11-9 lead. Dalevik and Evans led the way for Medicine Hat's offense down the stretch, while Ambrose made a few too many errors late in the 5th and found themselves down 12-14. A sneaky set over by Dalevik found the floor and put an end to the match, clocking in at just under 2 hours and 20 minutes.

The Rattlers move to 8-9, still out of playoff contention by a slim margin behind Briercrest. The Lions fall to 2-14, and will have a chance at redemption on Saturday night in the Medicine Hat Snake Pit. The rematch will begin at 8:00 pm, following the women's match.