By Justin Steenhof

Briercrest Clippers (7-8) vs. SAIT Trojans (6-9)

Saturday January 26, 2013 Briercrest looked to complete the weekend sweep of the Trojans and bring the record up to .500. Briercrest would do just that in dramatic fashion as they fell behind two sets to none early but came all the way back to win the match in five (22-25, 24-26, 25-23, 25-14, 15-13).

The score remained close as both teams went to their offensive game early providing some hard hitting volleyball. For Briecrest it was Elly Wendel and Erin Anderson who stepped up however it was the Trojans who took the slim lead. SAIT used some strong serving to increase their lead to three and forced the first timeout of the game by the Clippers. Strong serving by Wendel paired with strong net play by Amanda Lundquist brought Briercrest back into the lead but the Trojans responded with some more strong serving to retake the three point lead. A kill by Mikayla Reinhardt seemed to give the momentum back to Briercrest but a missed serve followed by an ace by SAIT increased their lead to four and forced another Clipper timeout.

Strong serving by Lundquist along with two huge blocks by Anderson cut the lead to one late in the set. However, the Trojans took control from there as they held it together and closed out the set by a score of 25-22 and taking a one to nothing set lead.

The Trojans came out to take the lead early in the second set but the Clippers rallied around the strong play of Anderson who helped to tie the game with two kills. A block sandwiched between to kills by Wendel again followed by the strong serving of Anderson gave the Clippers the four point lead and resulted in a Trojan timeout with the score 11-7. Sait responded well from the timeout narrowing Briercrest’s lead to one and eventually tying the game at 14 and forcing a Briercrest timeout.

The two teams continued to battle hard with the score remaining tight. Kills by Wendel and Anderson continued to pace the Briercrest attack as the Clips took a two point lead late in the set with the score 22-20 and forcing the Trojans into a timeout.  The Trojans responded well as they battled back cutting the Briercrest lead to one at 23-22. SAIT would continue their surge as they rallied back to take the set 26-24 and taking a two to nothing set lead.

The two teams started the third set battling back and forth with the score remaining close until a kill by Reinhardt seemed to ignite the Briercrest attack and they jumped out to a three point lead. However, the Trojans again rallied to the set at 12 as they looked to potentially close out the match. Briercrest though would not give in easily as they used a Wendel kill as a momentum shift and regained their four point lead resulting in a Trojan timeout.

Again the Trojans went for a run of four straight points out of the timeout tying the game at 17 which forced a Briercrest timeout. After trading points back and forth a huge stuff block by Wendel and Anderson would give Briercrest a three point lead at 22-19 and result in another Trojan timeout. A huge kill by Wendel followed by a missed serve by the Trojans closed out the third set 25-23 for Briercrest as they made it two sets to one.

The fourth set started much the same way as the third did with the two teams trading points and the lead. Whitney Zylstra led the attack for the Clippers with both blocking and hitting as Briercrest took the slim lead. The Clippers continued to roll as Wendel continued her strong play helping Briercrest increase their lead to five with the score 15-10 and forcing a Trojan timeout.

Another Wendel kill helped Briercrest keep the momentum as the lead continued to increase. After a few Trojan points Anderson responded with a kill of her own as the Clippers looked to close out the set and tie the match. The Briercrest surge would continue as they closed out the set 25-14 tying the game at two sets a piece and setting the stage for a dramatic fifth set.

The massive Briercrest surge would continue as Briercrest jumped out to the early three point lead in the fifth and final set which would force a SAIT timeout. The two teams would again begin to trade points as the Clippers looked to continue their momentum; this was helped by a huge kill by Zylstra followed by a massive double block by Zylstra and Lundquist.

The Trojans would begin to rally back cutting the Briercrest lead to two with the score 9-7. A huge kill by Anderson, who continued to play well, would appear to give Briercrest the momentum but the Trojans would respond with two straight points forcing a Clipper timeout. A monstrous back row kill by Wendel would pull Briercrest closer to the end but the Trojans would rally back to take the lead at 13-12 forcing a Briercrest timeout. A Reinhardt kill plus a massive block would give the Clippers the lead and possible match point.  Anderson would complete the comeback and end the match on a massive stuff block as they took the set 15-13 and the match 3-2 (22-25, 24-26, 25-23, 25-14, 15-13).

SAIT Trojans player of the game:  # 7 Caia Morstad 15 digs, one block and 10 kills.

Briercrest Clippers player of the game: # 15 Elly Wendel with 17 digs, a game high three aces, two blocks, and a game high 17 kills.

Other Briercrest stat leaders were Erin Anderson with a game high three aces, Brooke Peterson with a game high 34 digs and Erin Anderson and Whitney Zylstra with game high three blocks.

Briercrest led the game in kills, digs and blocks with 56, 127 and eight to SAIT’s 49, 98 and seven, while both teams had 10 aces.

Briercrest’s next game is in Red Deed against Red Deer College Feb. 1-2. Be sure to follow online at SportsCanada.tv or like Briercrest Volleyball on Facebook.