Straight-Set Loss for Lions in Return to the Hardwood

As the ACAC resumed regular season action, the Red Deer Kings took advantage of a rough serving night for the Ambrose Lions to take a decisive 3-0 victory in the Lions Den. Tom Wass was the Kings Player of the Game, with 24 assists and 8 digs, while Adrian Strandberg took it home for the Lions with 6 kills and 7 digs.

Although the Kings held a lead for the majority of the set, the Lions kept it close and drew to within two at 18-20 following a kill down the line by Harry Rosewarn (4 kills, 4 digs). Serving errors were the Lions' bane tonight, however, as they would go on to miss their next four serves in a row and all but hand the first set victory to the Kings.

The Lions' passing and offense were consistent throughout the match, controlling the serving of the Kings and scoring well (28 Lions kills on the match to the Kings' 26). Service errors and Red Deer's potent offense gave the visiting team a healthy 17-10 lead halfway through the set, while the Lions found offensive contributions from all attackers but couldn't break through the deficit. Down 18-24, a missed serve from Rosewarn completed the second set and put the Kings up 2-0.

The third set played out like the third chapter of the same story, as the home team drew close but couldn't close out the set. Lions middle Brodie Juul-Hansen (6 kills, 3 blocks) found a few momentum-building overpass kills down the stretch, and Ambrose trailed by two points at 15-17. From this point on, the Lions service error bug and a composed Red Deer squad sent the visitors on a 7-4 run close it out and finish the game in straight sets. The final play of the game, at 24-19, was a stuff block on Bergen by RDC middle Mark DeWit (5 digs, 2 blocks).

The Lions travel to Red Deer tomorrow for another shot at the Kings, tune in at acactv.ca at 8:00 pm to see the teams rematch at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre.