After an exciting game at SAIT on Thursday night, and given the competitive rivalry these teams share, the Lions hoped to use their home court advantage to get a win heading into the winter break. Ambrose P.O.G Josh Rice described the pre-game mood in an interview after the game tonight. "We were pretty fired up, and after a close loss like that we came into this one really wanting it."

Unfortunately for the Lions, SAIT's offense was firing on all cylinders and consistent serving made it difficult for Ambrose to respond in kind. SAIT's lead stretched as far as 20-11 before a late push from Ambrose brought it back to 20-24, but a missed serve gave SAIT the first set.

The next set was quite a bit closer, as the Ambrose offense finally upped its effectiveness and the Trojan serve was controlled more easily. A rightside swing down the line from Keaton Strom made it 14-13, as the two teams stayed within one or two points of each other for most of the set. Unfortunately for the home team, a couple of crucial passing errors late in the set gave their opponents the edge and Ambrose went down two sets to none, finishing 27-25. 

The third set was more of the same in regards to early ties and late leads; down by 5, Ambrose tried to fight their way back into the game after miraculous defensive play  by the Lions and a deep line shot by Keaton Strom made it 16-20. An offensive drive very late in the set made it 22-24, but a crosscourt kill from Trojans leftside Tyler Latu'ila finished the game in three sets.

Despite tonight's loss, Lions libero Josh Rice is optimistic for what the new year has in store for his team. "We struggled a bit on offense, but you know, that happens, and we're getting better so hopefully this Christmas break we'll get a lot of growth in and come back just rippin' hard in the rest of the season."

Friday, January 6th will feature the Lions going up against the currently 2nd place Medicine Hat Rattlers in the Lions' Den. Join us there or watch our livestream at acactv.ca to catch the action when it resumes next semester.

-Brent Ingram