Lions Remain Undefeated At Home, Beat Rattlers in Four

Returning home after a shocking 3-0 loss in Medicine Hat, the Lady Lions used home court advantage to even up their record. Player of the Game Maddy Williscroft had 20 kills and 6 digs, becoming one of her team's most reliable offensive options down the stretch.

Williscroft said after the game: "Everyone's energy was just so amazing, especially being at home, you can really feed off the crowd, and everyone was just so positive the entire game."

Both teams came to play in the first set, as the score remained even throughout the set and the Lions found themselves down 23-24. A stuff block from Jeena Johner, a kill from Williscroft and another block from Ali Leskow gave the Lions three quick points and stole the first set from the visitors, 26-24.

Medicine Hat jumped out to a 6-0 lead and maintained that lead throughout the second set. The Rattlers kept their foot on the gas with aggressive serving and attacking, not allowing the Lions to mount any sort of comeback due to scrappy defense spearheaded by libero Shaya Suchy. Rattlers POG Kennedy Lewis had 17 kills over the match and went on a long serving run in this set to deflate the Lions' hopes of coming back.

With one set apiece, the Lions took control of the third set and built a comfortable lead. Lions Head Coach Colin Kubinec sent in first year middle Kelsey Olsen as a blocking sub, containing the attacks of Amber Stigter (19 kills) and securing a 2-1 set lead. At several points in this set, 5 out of the 6 Lions players on the court were rookies, the only veteran being 4th year libero Mady Kerr.

The Lions weren't about to let this one go to five sets. This time around it was Ambrose's turn to serve and defend effectively, building a 20-12 lead. The Rattlers didn't give up, pushing back to make the score 21-18, but a few costly Rattlers mistakes gave the Lions enough of an opening to fight back and win the fourth set 25-19. 

Coach Kubinec credits tough serving and consistency with tonight's win: "We had a rougher night yesterday in Med Hat…but we really felt that a lot of it stemmed from the serve and pass game. We served pretty soft, and knew that if we could serve a little tougher it would open up all aspects of our game. We were getting away from our game [last night], and so tonight we kept it on our side and focused on executing, and the girls were in a great frame of mind today."

Tune in on acactv.com or head to the Lions Den next weekend, as the Briercrest Clippers come to town. The women will play at 6:00 pm on Friday and 1:00 pm on Saturday.

- Brent Ingram