All five Briercrest Clipper teams are in action this weekend! It will be a busy weekend in Caronport, as hockey and men’s and women’s basketball all have home games. The volleyball teams, meanwhile, are on the road to Camrose.

Basketball
This will be the final regular season home games for both men’s and women’s basketball, as they will have four road games in a row to finish up the schedule. However, there is a chance for men’s basketball to be hosting a playoff weekend in February!

The Mount Royal University Cougars come to town this weekend to take on the Clippers. It is a huge weekend for the men’s team as they have another opportunity to keep moving towards a playoff spot. After two big victories this past weekend over the Concordia Thunder and Augustana Vikings, Briercrest is currently tied with two other teams for third place in the South, at 6 – 6.

MRU is in second place with a record of 9 – 3. In order to have a home playoff weekend, the Clippers will need to pass the Cougars in the standings. This weekend is an opportunity to take a huge step towards doing that.

It should be a great match-up as third-year Clipper, Gradyn Childershose leads the ACAC South in points per game with 22.17, while the top scorer for the Cougars is Steve Trinidad, who is fifth in the division with 17..80 ppg.

The women’s team will also be facing a Mount Royal team that is in second place in the South, with a record of 10 – 2. A big challenge will be stopping Jamie Morck, who leads the Cougars and the ACAC South in field goal percentage, rebounds per game and blocks per game. The fifth year vet is also third in the division for points per game.

Meanwhile, the Clippers’ third year post Valerie Robinson continues to have a great season, and is right behind Morck in all four of those categories. Robinson is in second place for field goal percentage, rebounds per game and blocks per game, and she is in fifth overall for points per game. It should be a great match-up between Morck and Robinson head-to-head!

This will be the final home games in a Clipper uniform for four members of the women’s team. Jeri Brainard, Brittany Leung, Amara MacCormack and Dani Frost, will all be graduating or are playing in their final year of eligibility. There will be a special presentation at the women’s game on Saturday, so be sure to come and be a part of their final Clipper home games.

Game times are 6:00 PM (women) and 8:00 PM (men) on Friday, with the re-matches at 1 PM (women) and 3 PM (men) on Saturday. Come on out and cheer on your basketball teams in their final regular season matches!

Hockey
Briercrest will be hosting the Concordia University College Thunder in a pair of games at Barkman Arena. The Thunder are currently in fifth place and the Clippers trail them by five points in the standings. This is a big opportunity for the Clippers to gain ground on not only Conordia, but also Portage College, who is four points ahead of them for the final playoff spot.

Briercrest closed the gap on Portage by one point this past weekend, as the Voyageurs lost both their games, while the Clippers picked up a point in their 2 – 2 battle with NAIT on Friday night.

The top scorer for Concordia is Andre Herman, with 17 points (8 goals, 9 assists), while Dare Mably leads the way for the Clippers with his 17 points (11 goals, 6 assists). It should be a great match-up with lots on the line as far as playoffs are concerned, so come out to cheer on your Clippers!

Game times are 7:30 PM on Friday and 2:00 PM on Saturday.

Volleyball
The men’s and women’s volleyball teams will be on the road this weekend to take on the Augustana Vikings in Camrose.

The Clipper men (10 – 2) are looking to stay on top of the ACAC with a pair of wins against the Vikings, who are in 13th place at 1 – 12.  The other two teams at the top with the Clippers, Red Deer College and The King’s University College, will go head-to-head this weekend, so Briercrest has a chance to gain some separation from one or both of those teams.

Scott Lesher leads the Clippers in kills with 142, which is fourth overall  in the league. Zac Ens leads the way in blocking with 32 which is an average of 0.78 per set, and has him in second overall.

The Briercrest women’s team, who are currently in 12th place, need two wins in Augustana this weekend to stay in the playoff hunt. The Vikings are in last place in the ACAC with a record of 0 – 12.

This weekend is a great opportunity for the Clippers to pass the Keyano Huskies who are one win ahead of them in the standings. The Huskies, who have played two more matches than the Clippers will have a bye. Briercrest can also come within one win of 10th place, which is the final playoff spot.

The Clippers’ Alexis Loewen is currently leading the league in blocks with 41 (an average of 0.85 per set), while Carlee Leclerc leads the league in aces per game with 36 (an average of 0.75/set).

Match times in Augustana are 6:00 PM (women) and 8:00 PM (men) on Friday, then 1:00 PM (women) and 3:00 PM (men) on Saturday. Come out and cheer on your Clippers if you are in the Camrose area!

On a sad note, the Clippers said good-bye to an alumnus of the men’s volleyball team on Monday. Clayton Pollock, who played for the Clippers in 2004-05, died suddenly of a heart attack on January 11th, and was taken to be with the Lord at the age of 25. He is remembered fondly by teammates and friends from that year, and our deepest condolences go out to Clayton’s wife Celeste (who is expecting their third child in August), and his two children Trinity and Kristjan.

You can read more about Clayton’s life and his time as a member of the Briercrest men’s volleyball team by visiting the men’s volleyball page on our website (http://www.briercrest.ca/athletics/mens_volleyball/news.asp?team=mvolleyball), as there is an article posted there.