Vikings complete the upset over the Clippers to advance to Semi-Final

CAMROSE, Alta. - Completing the upset, the University of Alberta - Augustana Vikings took down the south division top seed, Briercrest Clippers, 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-20, 25-15) at the ACAC Women's Volleyball Championship on Thursday evening at Augustana Gym.

With home-court advantage, the north division's fourth-seeded Vikings advance to the championship Semi-Final on Friday night and await their opponent, while the Clippers will play in the consolation Semi-Final.

"Can't lie it feels pretty good to see our young perform so well in a big moment," said head coach Steve Enright on his team's performance. "Everyone played so well and Ziemmer was massive on the service line when we were down earlier and her aggressive style gave the team a lot of confidence."

Leading the gym cheers, were rookies Hadley Ziemmer and Tamara Mathison with a combined 32 kills on the night as captain Phaedra Bruens had 50 assists. However, they were in a tough match-up against All-Confernce outside hitter, Julia Beer who added 15 kills of her own and setter Abby Ulrich racking up 32 assists.

Motivated by the home crowd, the Vikings battled to a first-set win over the south's top seed to take an early 1-0 set lead, setting the tone of the match.

Making for an exciting marque match-up, the Vikings took the momentum into the second set, jumping to a quick 3-0 lead. However, it would be short-lived as the Clippers stole the momentum to take a 7-3 lead, starting a power struggle between the two sides. In the end, Briercrest would take the set to tie the game at one set a piece as Julia Beer's kill would be too much to handle, 25-23.

Fighting for the advantage, neither team was giving space for the other to breathe in an important third set. With a heroic effort from Vikings rookie Hadley Ziemmer to save the ball deep in the gym corner, libero Brynn Hardy was unable to handle the Vikings pass at the backline, bringing the score in favour of the home side, 9-7. The momentum kept rolling for the Vikings from that point on with Lainey Granley putting the final kill away for the Vikings, 25-20.

With the storyline shaping up the be the same as the previous set, the Vikings put their guests on the back foot early, keeping the Clippers a few points behind at every touch before pulling away late to take the set and the match, 25-15.

"We are going to play a really good team tomorrow and we will need to bring the same mindset that we brought today," added Enright when discussing the team's Semi-Final match.

The Vikings will need to wait to learn who they will host on Day 2 of action at 8:00 PM MST against either the King's Eagles or Ambrose Lions. Meanwhile, the Clippers will play at 3:00 PM MST against the defeated team. All games will occur at Augustana Gym.