Rattlers Sweep Kodiaks in the Snake Pit

A rare Thursday night game saw the Lethbridge Kodiaks in town to visit the Medicine Hat College Rattlers. An opening serve error by the Kodiaks, saw the Rattlers open up an early 2 point lead. This was quickly erased with two errors on the Medicine hat side of the net. As both sided traded side-outs the match climbed evenly up the scoreboard. A long rally won by the Rattlers seemed to energize the side. With Shaya Suchy leading the charge with some impressive digs and saves, the Rattlers opened up a 4 point lead 16-12 forcing the Kodiaks to take a timeout. This time out helped stem the momentum that the rattlers had and closed the gap. Just one point down 18-19 the Kodiaks momentum steal forced the Rattlers into a timeout of their own. Out of the timeout, Medicine Hat took a three-hit side-out to maintain a 2 point margin. The score stayed within two until a Mackenzie Griffith ace opened the lead to three and allowed the Rattlers to win 25-22

The second set began with both sides digging up attacks and countering with dumps and tips. An early error allowed the Kodiaks to gain the early lead. Kodiak Setter Jamie Brown was almost perfect on her tips but the rest of her offence was not converting on good sets. The Rattlers defense came roaring back with 3 big blocks in a row and every other ball dug up. This allowed the Rattlers to take over the momentum and the early part of the game. Up by 4, 8-4, the Rattlers with all the momentum forced Lethbridge to burn a timeout early. The timeout was effective with the Kodiaks scoring three straight out of the break. The Rattlers seemed to use this as motivation as they came back with three straight of their own. This almost seemed to deflate the Kodiaks. The Rattlers Continued to attack with ferocity. With Shaya Suchy passing up every Kodiak attack, the Rattlers turned the game on its head opening up a 16-8 lead. The dominance of the second set continued with the Rattlers seeming to catch all the breaks with an impressive closeout of the second set taking it 25-13.

A Rattler Kill followed by an Ace opened up a quick lead in the Third set. Hoping to capitalize on the momentum from the second, the Rattlers continued to press hard with a fast attack. The Kodiaks seemed to adapt better and weathered the storm, climbing back into the set. Tied at 6 both teams looked to gain any advantage. the momentum seemed to swing back in the Rattlers favor on the back of a Brooke Christie attack, Medicine Hat opened up another 3 point lead. With this lead the Rattlers again pressed in order to gain an advantage. With a hugely effective attack being run off the right side Medicine Hat was able to open up a 20-13 lead. Continued errors on the Kodiak Side of the Net kept them from getting themselves back into the match. Any time they seemed to gain momentum, a missed serve or an error kept them from capitalizing. But feeling comfortable with their lead, the Rattlers seemed to relax and give the Kodiaks one last glimpse of hope before closing out the match 25-17 and 3 sets to 0