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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: Nov 18, 2016

Lions Struggle Offensively As RDC Wins 3-0

Box Score
Game Leaders
RDP
K: Regan Fathers - 14
B: 2 Players (#03, #07) - 2
D: Michael Sumner - 7
SA: 3 Players (#04, #05, #13) - 1
AMB
K: Keaton Strom - 11
B: Nolan Ens - 3
D: Joshua Rice - 7
SA: 2 Players (#5, #9) - 1
Team Stats
Full stats

In a match that looked promising after the first set, the Ambrose Lions failed to maintain a high level of play and make a dent in the Red Deer Kings' armor. Head Coach Paul Armbruster remarked after the game, "There are definitely some things that we feel we should be executing on…we need to learn how to win these close first sets that we always have in this gym, because that can swing a match."

Close it certainly was; the Lions capitalized on great passing from their back row as well as uncharacteristic hitting errors from RDC to keep it even throughout the entire first set. Unfortunately for the Lions, and despite two missed serves from the Kings late in the set, a kill from Matthew Lofgren ended it at 25-23 for the Kings. From then on the momentum of the match sat firmly in Red Deer's camp.

The Lions kept it close for the first half of the second set and a big kill from Ambrose captain Nolan Ens brought his team to within one, but after that point the Kings began to pull away. Their lead grew from 12-8 to 20-12, and eventually finished the set with a 9 point lead at 25-16.

The third set was more of the same, and unfortunately the Lions passing couldn't keep up with the Kings. Red Deer P.O.G. Regan Fathers, despite several unforced errors in the first set, fell into a consistent attacking rhythm out of the rightside and freed up space for his team's middles to score.

Keaton Strom and Adrian Strandberg anchored Ambrose's attack and serve receive, but in the end weren't able to carry their team to a victory. Set 3 ended at 25-17.

After the game, Ambrose P.O.G. Adrian Strandberg stressed the importance playing strong defense in order to put up a fight against the reigning ACAC and CCAA champs. "Red Deer's a big team, they've got a lot of big guys, and we have to try and get more digs and blocks." 

Tomorrow night in Red Deer the two teams get another shot at each other; the Lions, at 2-7, are hoping to have a better showing than tonight's game, if only to gain some amount of momentum heading into their last weekend of play before the Christmas break. Meanwhile, the 9-2 Kings will try to distance themselves from those who would usurp their customary spot at the top of the ACAC South. 

- Brent Ingram