All five Briercrest Clipper teams are in action again this weekend. Men’s and women’s volleyball have home games, while the basketball teams and the hockey team are on the road.

Volleyball
This is another huge weekend for both volleyball teams as Red Deer College comes to town. On the men’s side, the Clippers are battling with the Red Deer Kings for top spot in the league. With victories this weekend, the Clippers can gain some more separation from the Kings, who are two points behind and tied for second with three other teams at 11 – 3.

Briercrest is coming off a pair of straight-set victories over Augustana this past weekend, while Red Deer had a split weekend with King’s University College, who is also tied for second place. A big key for the Clippers will be stopping Taylor Hunt who leads Red Deer and the league in both kills and aces per game.

On the women’s side, the Clippers can go a long ways to earning their way into the 10th and final playoff spot with wins this weekend. Red Deer is currently in fourth place at 9 – 5, which is eight points ahead of Briercrest. The Queens have two outside hitters, Robyn Denney and Jaclyn Neufeld in the top 10 for kills, so limiting their attack will be crucial for the Clippers.

The Briercrest women are coming off their first two-win weekend of the season, as they beat Augustana 3 – 0 both matches. The Clippers are now 3 – 1 for the second half and are looking to keep the momentum rolling, as they now sit just one win behind King’s University College for the final playoff spot.

Game times for the women are 6:00 PM on Friday and 1:00 PM on Saturday. The men play following the women’s matches at 8:00 PM on Friday and 3:00 PM on Saturday. Come out to the Margaret P. Reimer Gymnasium and be a part of the excitement! If you are out of town, you can tune in to www.sportscanada.tv to catch all four matches live on-line.

Basketball
Men’s and women’s basketball are on the road to Medicine Hat this weekend where they will take on the Rattlers. On the women’s side, Medicine Hat sits in third place in the South. The Clippers will look to Valerie Robinson to lead the way for them, as she continues to be in the top five for points per game, field goal percentage, rebounds per game and blocks per game. Teammate Dani Frost is also in the top five for blocks per game and is in the top 10 for rebounds. The Rattlers have two players, Tianna Holt and Courtney Heinricks, in the top five for assists. Heinricks is also second in the South for steals per game.

This is an important match-up for the Briercrest men, as they can potentially move ahead of Red Deer and into a tie with SAIT for third place in the ACAC South. Both Red Deer and SAIT have tough match-ups this weekend as Red Deer faces first-place Lethbridge, while SAIT takes on second-place Mount Royal.

The Clippers are coming off a pair of tough losses to Mount Royal this past weekend, and so is Medicine Hat, who lost a pair to Lethbridge. Nairen Duncan, who was high school standout from Moose Jaw, leads the Rattlers in field goal percentage and rebounds per game. He is also in the top five in the South for both of those categories.

Game times in Medicine Hat will be at 6:00 PM (women) and 8:00 PM (men) on Friday, with the rematches going at 1:00 PM (women) and 3:00 PM (men) on Saturday. All four games will also be broadcast live on www.sportscanada.tv .

Hockey
Briercrest hockey is on the road to Edmonton this weekend where they will take on the Grant MacEwan University Griffins. The Clippers need a pair of wins against the eighth-place Griffins in order to keep their playoff hopes alive. Briercrest is four points up on the Griffins and seven points behind both Portage College and Concordia University College, who are tied for the final playoff spot.

Concordia gained some separation this past weekend by beating the Clippers on Saturday, after the teams skated to a 4 – 4 tie on Friday. There is still opportunity for the Clippers to earn a playoff spot, however, as they will face Portage in the weekend after their match-up against the Griffins.

Dare Mably and Craig Cornelson continue to lead the way for the Clippers with 19 and 17 points respectively, while Jared Crooks is the scoring leader for MacEwan with 13 points.

The games will be played at 8:00 PM on Friday and 3:00 PM on Saturday at the Bill Hunter Arena in Edmonton.