In a stunning turnaround after Briercrest's dominant win Friday night, the Ambrose Lions defeated the Clippers three sets to one Saturday afternoon. Contributions from everyone on the Lions side played their part in the victory, including consistent attacking by Ambrose POG Keaton Strom (19 kills, 9 digs, 2 aces) and a ridiculous passing and defensive performance by libero Josh Rice. Strom noted after the game, "We went into it with the idea of energy and having fun…even after losing the second set I realized it was the most enjoyable game I've played all season."
A tip out of the back row from Strom gave the Lions a one point lead at 14-13, and from there the Lions would stay very close until the very end of the set. With the teams tied at 19, Strom began a 6-2 run with a service ace that led to the Lions taking the first set. Ambrose Captain Nolan Ens had 9 kills and 2 aces on the night, and a tough serve from him on set point would result in a block by Gobi Jibi that finished it at 25-21.
Briercrest fought back in the second, the attacking of Bryan Fountain and Javier Alvarez once again doing work for the Clippers as they opened up a 12-7 lead. Clippers setter and POG Matt Ginter (1 ace, 9 digs, 31 assists) stepped up his game in the second and distributed the ball well to his hitters despite a marked drop in middle runs compared to Friday night's game. The 5-point spread remained in Briercrest's favour for the rest of the set, and a hitting error from Lions' rightside Mark Fountain gave the Clippers the second set and tied it up at 1-1.
The third set saw Ambrose take an early lead and maintain it throughout the set, up 16-12 after a kill by Gobi Jibi out of the middle. An amazing rally at 18-14, ending in a Keaton Strom kill, put the Lions up by five and forced a timeout by Clippers Head Coach Nigel Mullan. Jibi turned up the heat on his blocking to add yet another aspect that was missing from last night's game, helping give his team the edge as they closed out the set 25-21.
Ambrose's high level of play continued in the fourth set, but were faced with a charging Clippers squad. Faced with a 6-10 deficit, Briercrest went on a 5-1 run to tie the game up at 11-11 thanks to a few timely kills by Javier Alvarez. The Clippers took the lead and were up by three points at 17-14, before a massive kill down the line by Mark Fountain began a 10-2 run for the Lions that put them within one point of taking home the win. After a perfect pass by Josh Rice, Jared VanderZwaag gave the ball to Ambrose Captain Nolan Ens in the middle for the game-winning kill.
Head Coach Paul Armbruster said after the game, "Briercrest is a fantastic team, I'm really happy that our guys got to see some success against them." The Clippers (12-8) have all but secured a playoff berth, assuming Lethbridge doesn't sweep both the Lions next weekend as well as the first place Medicine Hat Rattlers. Next weekend, in their last two games of the season, the Lions will try to end the season on a high note against the 8-12 Kodiaks. Armbruster: "Obviously we played well today, we were earning a lot of points, so we're going to try and carry that momentum and energy into next week."
Go Lions!
- Brent Ingram