By Jadon Frank

Briercrest women’s volleyball faced the fifth ranked college team in Canada and top team in the ACAC standings in Red Deer College and pushed them to their limits, losing 3-2 both days.

On Friday, February 1, Briercrest dropped the first set but came back to win the next two to take a 2-1 lead before losing the next two sets and 3-2 (25-16, 23-25, 20-25, 27-25, 15-12). It was a very tight game with Red Deer holding the edge in kills and digs 52-49 and 79-75, while Briercrest held the edge in service aces and blocks seven to five and 11 to nine.

Elly Wendel was the player of the game with a game high 19 kills to go with an ace, 10 digs and one block. Whitney Zylstra had a game high two aces, Brooke Peterson had a game high 19 digs and Erin Anderson had a game high four blocks

On Saturday, February 2, both teams came out strong and split the first two tight sets, before Briercrest once again got the two to one set lead, before Red Deer stormed back to win the match in five again (23-25, 29-27, 19-25, 25-13, 15-9).

Amanda Lundquist was the player of the game with a game high four blocks and leading the offense as the setter. Once again it was a close statistical match where Briercrest held the edge in kills 50-49, and blocks 13-10, while Red Deer held the edge in aces 12-10 and digs 70-49. Wendel once again led the way with a game high 13 kills and four blocks, while Erin Anderson had a game high three aces, and Starlet Peterson had a team high 17 digs.

Head coach Nolan Weinmaster reflected on the weekend.

“Elly had an outstanding 19 kills Friday and 22 points, Amanda was POG Saturday -- she had one kill, one ace, four stuff blocks and set really well,” Weinmaster said. “Both girls had good games both days. Elly had 21 points in Saturday's match as well. Brooklyn Dyck stepped in and played solid in the absence of an injured Mikayla Reinhardt. We did some really good things both days but couldn't close out the matches against a strong RDC team. It was tough to lose both days after being up two sets to one in both matches, but it was valuable learning experience and good to see where we match up with the top team in the league right now.”