Vikings extend their Cinderella story with win over Eagles to advance to conference final
CAMROSE, Alta. - Continuing the Cinderella story on home court, the lowest seed in the north, University of Alberta - Augustana Vikings took down The King's Eagles 3-2 (20-25, 25-17, 27-25, 17-25, 17-15) in the second of two Semi-Finals at the ACAC Women's Volleyball Championship on Friday night at Augustana Gym.
Claiming their spot in their second ACAC Championship match, the Vikings will take on the nearly perfect Lakeland Rustlers in front of a home crowd and set up a rematch of the 2023 conference final, on Saturday night. The red and white also punch their ticket to the CCAA Women's Volleyball Championship, hosted by Durham College from March 5-8th. The north division second-seeded Eagles will play for the coveted ACAC bronze medal against the south equal seed, RDP Queens.
"Euphoric, this was a fantastic match," said Vikings head coach Steve Enright following the team win. "Both teams played with a lot of guts and courage, but we happened to have a couple of big swings by Taryn at the end of the match. It was electric. It was great."
Leading the way was second-year Taryn Watson with 22 kills, accompanied by fellow sophomore Phaedra Bruens 37 assists in the match, while rookie Hadley Ziemmer added 18 kills and four aces to the scoresheet. Across the net, Brooke Risselada had 20 kills and nine digs and veteran Ashley Lockwood had a staggering six solo blocks.
With the roar of the crowd behind them, the Vikings found their way in control of the second set, 9-5, after dropping the open frame, forcing their rivals to call a timeout. However, it would prove to not help as the Vikings continued to roll to a 25-17 set win, tying the match at one set apiece.
Breezing to an early 5-0 lead, the Eagles seemed well on their way to taking back control, however, a string of serves from Ziemmer would bring the Vikings back, before needing three chances at set point. Watson would prove to be the hero as her kill down the middle could not be handled and the ball hit the roof, 27-25.
Drowning out the crowd, the Eagles flue to new heights, to lead throughout the fourth set, hoping to keep their championship hopes alive. Making little mistakes and forcing plenty of errors, they would cruise to a set win, 25-17, and force a fifth a deciding high-stakes set.
Keeping with the storyline, the two sides exchanged points battling for momentum and trying to break away. However, the midway point would find the home side up, 8-6, sending the crowd into chants as the guests called a time-out.
Knowing the game was not over, the blue and white battled from 12-6 down to being within a single point, 13-12. Showing her experience, Vikings Lainey Granley calmly killed the ball in the perfect spot for the first match point of the game, but the battle would continue. Keeping her side in the match, Risselada would slam down three cross-court kills to keep her side's champion hopes alive.
Having closed out the third set comeback, Watson's composure once again made her the court hero, giving the Vikings a fourth match point, with the eventual winning kill on the next play being sent deep into the crowd off an Eagle, 17-15.
"One of the challenges now is enjoying this one, but also knowing we have more work to do," adds Enright. "I know we can do it."
The Vikings will take on the two-time defending conference champions, Lakeland Rustlers tomorrow at 7:00 PM at Augustana Gym, with the Eagles taking on the Queens at 4:00 PM.