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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: Jan 26, 2019

Lions Complete Season Sweep of Broncos

Lions Complete Season Sweep of Broncos
Box Score
Game Leaders
OC
K: Thundersky Walkingbear - 11
B: Jesse Stoddart - 3
D: Thundersky Walkingbear - 15
SA: Jesse Stoddart - 1
AMB
K: Mark Fountain - 11
B: Evan Mann - 3
D: Carter McLenahan - 24
SA: Mark Fountain - 3
Team Stats
Full stats

The Lions came away with their second 4 set win of the weekend on Saturday night, defeating the Olds Broncos for the fourth time this season. Players of the Game were setter Jared VanderZwaag for the Lions (36 assists, 6 digs, 2 blocks) and outside hitter Thundersky Walkingbear for the Broncos (11 kills, 15 digs).

It was all Ambrose in the first set; error-prone Broncos play early on gave the Lions a 9-3 lead, and the home team put their foot on the gas to take it all the way to 24-9 before a kill by Jonny Gerber (3 kills, 1 assist) ended the opening frame.

Olds battled throughout the second set, competing at a much higher level and tying the game at 17-17 after a kill by middle River Thomas (4 kills, 12 digs). The Lions held a 24-23 lead before escaping with the set victory after a missed serve by Walkingbear.

Olds continued to elevate their level of play with contributions from Jesse Stoddart (6 kills, 12 digs, 3 blocks) on the outside and Rylan Head (4 kills, 1 block) in the middle. Tied 19-19, the Broncos found their next gear while the Lions committed too many errors en route to a 25-21 Olds victory. The final point saw outside hitter Haiden Hurtig (6 kills, 6 digs, 1 ace) dig an Ambrose overpass attack with his foot and put the ball back over for the set-winning point.

The final set, amid some controversy surrounding the officiating, was as much of a battle as the third. The Lions managed to take a slim lead late in the set, after a kill out of the back row from Mark Fountain (11 kills, 13 digs, 3 aces) made the score 20-17. Thundersky Walkingbear, his team down 24-19, killed a ball out of the rightside and went back to the service line to serve his team back into the game and bring the score to 23-24. With the game on the line, Evan Mann (4 kills, 3 blocks, 5 digs) rejected Walkingbear's pipe attack to finish the set and the game, stopping the comeback efforts of a charging Broncos team.

The Lions will host the undefeated Lethbridge Kodiaks next Saturday, February 2nd, after playing in Lethbridge on Thursday, January 31st. The men's games will commence at 8:00 pm, following the women.