By Willie Cole

Sat. Jan 12, 2013

The Lethbridge Kodiaks women’s volleyball team sought revenge against the Briercrest Clippers on Saturday afternoon after losing in three sets on Friday night. Both teams are seeking to gain momentum heading into the second half of the season in order to gain a playoff seed in the South division. Lethbridge took set one and four, but Briercrest came out on top with a score of 3-2.

The first set opened up in favour of Briercrest due to two straight serving aces by Amanda Lundquist. The Kodiaks would fight back, however, to take the lead at 5-4 on a kill by Hillary Tilleman. The Kodiaks continued to gain momentum taking the lead 10 to 7, with a well-placed kill by Karli Bell. The Clippers fought back to shorten the deficit by another ace from Amanda Lundquist making the score 13-11 in favour of the Kodiaks. The Kodiaks continued to press forward making the score 17 to 12 on a kill by Madisyn Chambers. Two tough blocks from Erika Sheen helped give the Kodiaks a 22 to 15 advantage. A final kill from Madisyn Chambers gave the Kodiaks the final point to win the first set by a score of 25 to 16.

The second set started with both teams going back and forth. Kills from Elly Wendel and Erika Cartman helped give Briercrest a 5-4 lead. A serving ace by Starlet Peterson gave Briercrest an 8-6 advantage. Back to back kills from Mikayla Reinhardt and Elly Wendel helped the Clippers lead by four with the score 12 to 8. Briercrest continued their scoring surge to increase their lead giving them a 19 to 11 advantage. Two kills and a block from Erin Anderson helped the Clippers push forward with a 22 to 14 lead. Anderson continued her tough play to help boost Briercrest late in the set. The Clippers won the second set with a final score of 25 to 17, evening the overall score one to one.

The third set began with Briercrest taking a 9 to 5 lead. A floor-smashing kill from Mikayla Reinhardt, and a great blocks from Elly Wendel and Erika Cartman helped the Clippers increase their lead to 16-9. Elly Wendel continued to display her powerful swings with two straight kills giving Briercrest a 19 to 10 lead. Two blocks from Starlet Peterson assisted in helping Briercrest continue their scoring spree giving them a 23 to 10 advantage. The tough play from Kevynn Wiebe and Karli Bell helped the Kodiaks throughout the third set. A final kill from Brooklyn Dyck sealed the victory of the third set for the Clippers with the final score of 25 to 15, giving them a two to one lead overall.

The opening rallies in the fourth set consisted of both teams going back and forth with the score constantly tied.  A big kill from Mikayla Reinhardt and an extraordinary block from Erika Cartman helped Briercrest, while kills from Madisyn Chambers and Erika Sheen were crucial for the Kodiaks, giving them an 8 to 6 lead at one point. The Clippers continued to fight back with huge kills from Elly Wendel and Amanda Lundquist, tying up the score at 10-10. Channelle Friesen came into the game giving Briercrest some critical serves, including a service ace, to help give them a 13-10 lead. Two kills and an ace from Erin Anderson assisted the Clippers in giving them a 19-16 lead. Big blocks from Erika Sheen and Alex Pasemko helped the Kodiaks fight back to take a 21-20 lead. Another big hit from Erika Sheen was huge in giving the Kodiaks a 24-22 lead. A double hit from Briercrest gave the Kodiaks the final point, giving them a 25-22 lead, evening the overall score at two apiece.

The game-deciding fifth set started off with Briercrest having a 3 to 1 lead due to back to back blocks from Elly Wendel and Starlet Peterson. A serving ace from Mikayla Reinhardt increased the Clippers’ lead to 5-1. Three dynamite kills from Elly Wendel were critical in Briercrest surging forward to gain a 9 to 3 advantage. Two great sets from Amanda Lundquist assisted Elly Wendel and Erin Anderson in two kills giving the Clippers a 12-6 lead. A tough block from Alex Passemko helped keep the Kodiaks stay alive in the final set, but Briercrest prevailed to win the final set 15-8, giving them a 3-2 (16-25, 25-17, 25-15, 22-25, 15-8) victory over the Kodiaks.

The Player of the game for the Clippers was Elly Wendel with 4 blocks, 21 digs, 1 ace, and 16 kills.

The Player of the game for the Kodiaks was Karli Bell with  23 digs, 1 ace, and 14 kills.

Key Stat: Three of Elly Wendel’s 16 kills came late in the final set to help the Clippers close the door on the Kodiaks.

Briercrest led every statistical category except for kills, where both teams had 52.Briercrest held the edge in service aces 10 to three, digs 113 to 109, and blocks 12 to five.

Briercrest statistical leaders were Elly Wendel with a game high 16 kills and four blocks to go with a team high 21 digs, Erika Cartman also had four blocks. Amanda Lundquist had a game high three service aces.

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