Broncos drop tight four-setter to Briercrest

Jadon Frank, Olds College Athletics

OLDS, AB - Olds College Broncos men's volleyball team lost a tight match 3-1 (25-22, 35-33, 23-25, 25-23) to the Briercrest College Clippers in the Every Child Matter Day Saturday, Nov. 30 at the Ralph Klein Centre.

Both teams went back and forth at the start of the first set with the Broncos taking the first substantial lead 7-5. At 12-10 the Broncos held their two point lead, but Briercrest stayed close and pulled the score to 14-13. A smart play from Lukas Dragicevic helped the Broncos take a three point lead at 17-14 which prompted Briercrest to take a time-out. Briercrest took another timeout as the Broncos built a 21-16 lead. Briercrest jumped back to cut the Broncos lead to 21-19 and force a Broncos timeout. Briercrest continued their momentum out of the timeout to take a 22-21 lead and force another Olds timeout. Briercrest continued their momentum and took the first set 25-22.

The Broncos jumped out to a 4-1 lead off the serve of Ryzen Walkingbear to start the second set before the teams started trading points. Ryzen Walkingbear again stepped up with a powerful kill to give the Broncos a two point 8-6 lead.Briecrest fought back to tie the game 13-13. Two powerful kills and a serve from Thundersky Walkingbear gave the Broncos a one point lead 16-15. The Clippers responded and took an 18-17 lead before the teams went back and forth exchanging points. Ryzen Walkingbear's strong serve brought the score to 21-20 for Briercrest and forcing a Clippers timeout. Ryzen Walkingbear's strong serve brought the Broncos a 22-21 lead out of the timeout. The teams exchanged points with Thundersky Walkingbear having a monstrous kill for the Broncos. The teams exchanged points past the minimum with Briercrest taking their second timeout at 25-24 for Olds. A Ryzen Walkingbear isolated kill brought the Broncos back up 26-25 and an athletic dump by Thomas Pugsley gave them a 27-26 lead, but Briercrest kept responding and tying up the score until Briercrest took a 28-27 lead and forcing a Broncos timeout. This time Briercrest wasn't able to get the second point and Olds kept tying up the score until Olds took a 30-29 lead off a Braden Bates block. Olds took another timeout when Briercrest took a 33-32 lead. The Broncos tied it up, but then Briercrest took the second set 35-33.

Briercrest jumped out to a 3-1 lead to start the third set before the teams exchanged points, and Briercrest maintained their one to two point lead until the Broncos tied the score 4-4. Briercrest took the lead back but couldn't pull away. The Broncos took the lead at 8-7. The Broncos were unable to build on their lead as the teams played sideout ball until the Clippers took a 12-10 lead. The teams exchanged points until Briercrest extended their lead to 17-14 off the serve of Bryton Codd. The Broncos went on a run off the back of Ryzen Walkingbear and took a 19-17 lead and forcing a Briercrest timeout. The Clippers scored out of the timeout and then forced a Broncos timeout at 19-19. The Broncos scored out of the timeout to re-take their lead and then Briercrest rebounded to take a 23-20 lead. The Broncos turned the momentum and tied the score 23-23 to force a Briercrest timeout. Haiden Hurtig then served the Broncos to a 25-23 third set win.

Briercrest started the fourth set with a small lead before Ryzen Walkingbear stepped up to bring the Broncos a 6-5 lead. Lukas Dragicevic served Olds to a 7-6 lead, before Briercrest responded to build an 8-7 lead. The teams played sideout ball until Briercrest built up a 19-14 lead with a couple kills from Karym Coleman. The Broncos took a time-out with the score at 20-14. The Broncos clawed back out of the timeout to cut the Briercrest lead to 21-18 and then 23-22 for Briercrest. Briercrest then pulled away to take the fourth set 25-23.

Player of the game for Briercrest was Emmitt Juul-Hansen with a game high 48 assists and the Pit Barbecue Player of the Game for the Broncos was Ryzen Walkingbear with a team high 16 kills to go with eight digs and strong serving.

Broncos held the advantage in digs 73-44 while Briercrest held the advantage in assists 53-52 and blocks 9-8 and both teams had 56 kills and seven aces. Thomas Pugsley had a  team high 46 assists and two service aces, Jesse Stoddart had a game high 22 digs and Braden Bates, Thundersky Walkingbear and Thomas Pugsley each had two blocksfor Olds.

The Broncos are done action for the semester and will be travelling to Medicine Hat College and Lethbridge College in the New Year before returning to the Ralph Klein Centre for Olds College Student Appreciation Night Friday, January 24.

To learn more about Olds College, the Olds College Broncos and the volleyball teams go to gobroncos.ca; like the Facebook page and follow @OldsBroncos on Twitter and Instagram.