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Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference "To be Canada's premiere collegiate athletic conference by developing and inspiring leadership through excellence in academics, sport and citizenship"
Posted: Feb 23, 2024

Ambrose Lions bounce back to beat Briercrest Clippers in ACAC semifinal match

Ambrose Lions bounce back to beat Briercrest Clippers in ACAC semifinal match
Video Box Score
Game Leaders
BC
K: Faith Buhler - 12
B: Rachel Stead - 4
D: Faith Buhler - 19
SA: Julia Beer - 4
AMB
K: Elise Wagner - 14
B: Willow Lewington - 7
D: Christina Bett - 21
SA: 4 Players (#6, #11, #13, #16) - 2
Team Stats
Full stats

Feb. 23, 2024 – The Ambrose University Lions dug their way out of a two-set deficit Friday night to beat the Briercrest College Clippers and earn a spot in the gold medal match tomorrow at the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Women's Volleyball Championships at Lethbridge College.  

Ambrose University Lions Head Coach Barry Heidebrecht says his team's experience and tough mindset helped them keep focus even when down two sets. 

"We've been in a lot of big, big matches this year," he says. "Being down two, we just tried to keep calm and stay focused and just wait for the chance. I felt like in the second set when we were up 22-20 and we let it slip away, I felt like it was there. There was a crack and we just had to make that crack into a crevice into a canyon." 

Heidebrecht said the fans who came from Calgary to cheer the team on made the win even more memorable. 

Earlier in the season, the Clippers beat the Lions 3-0 and 3-1. 

In the first set, the Clippers got off to a 4-0 start and never lost the lead. The Lions answered with two quick points of their own but the Clippers got into a fluid groove, taking the score to 6-2 and then 10-5. Service errors on both sides slowed down an otherwise tight and well-played game. The Lions clawed back and had a good run mid-set, getting within one point of the Clippers at 12-11, but the Briercrest team stayed focused, taking the score to 20-16 before the Lions called a timeout. Each team had some great passes, sets and hits as the score approached 25, but the Lions couldn't catch up and the Clippers took the first set 25-19. 

Set two provided some of the most thrilling and crowd-pleasing volleyball of the day so far, with the lead going back and forth throughout the match. A huge rally early on had both teams hustling and put the Lions up 8-6, but the Clippers answered back and tied the game. Another long rally when the teams were tied at 10 had both teams making great saves and smart plays. The Lions won that point to take an 11-10 lead, which they then added to slowly – capped off with an ace by all-conference team setter Rachel Barg (third year, Calgary, Biology) that took the Lions up 19-16. The Clippers stayed steady, however, and won two long rallies that had the crowd cheering before they tied the game at 22. After two timeouts late in the set by the Lions, the Clippers eked out the win, 25-23. 

Set three saw the momentum swing back to the Lions, who took the lead at 4-3 and stayed in control throughout the set. The Lions built up the score from 6-3 to 11-6 to 15-9 before the Clippers took a timeout. The Lions maintained their lead, but the Clippers pushed on and went on a run of their own, cutting the Lions lead to 20-16. But the Briercrest team couldn't catch the Lions, who went on to win the set 25-18. 

Set four saw the Lions get off to an energetic 3-0 start. A huge hit by Lions middle Willow Lewington (fifth year, Calgary, Psychology), the ACAC South Player of the Year, took the score to 4-1, and the Lions kept going from there – from 5-2 to 9-3 to 13-4 before the Clippers called a timeout. The Clippers came back on the court with determination, winning four points in a row and cutting the Lions lead to 13-8. Service errors on both sides plagued this set as well, and two replayed points – one after an athlete took a hard fall on the court, and another when the gym lights briefly went down – slowed down an otherwise fast-paced, crowd-pleasing game. The Lions cruised their way to this fourth set win with a final score of 25-14. 

The Lions dominated the fifth and final set, getting off to a 5-0 start and building to an 11-1 lead. With a huge hit, the Ambrose team finished the final set 15-4 and earned a 3-2 win over the Clippers and a spot in the gold medal game tomorrow at 5 p.m. Briercrest will play for bronze at 2:30 p.m.  

Middle Rachel Stead (third year, Langley, B.C., Bachelor of Arts – Business Administration), who was named to the all-conference team Thursday night, was the Clippers player of the game. Outside hitter Faith Solecki (second year, Cochrane, Alta., Biology) was named player of the game for the Lions.  

 

Players of the Game|

Lions|#11Faith Solecki

Clippers|#10 Rachel Stead