This afternoon the Briercrest women’s volleyball team played their last home game of the season and came out winning in a match consisting of four sets against the Ambrose Lions. It was a close game and exciting to be a part of with bitter sweetness for Erin Anderson and Amanda Lundquist as this was their last home game of the season.

Briercrest was off to a strong start with a kill by Sam Zacharias early on to set a tone of intensity. Erin Anderson had two service aces in the first while Mikayla Reinhardt and Whitney Zylstra were successful in their hits against the Lions. The first set was won by Briercrest with a score of 25-13.

Briercrest slipped a couple of points behind early on in the second set, but continued to have many highs throughout the game. After a brief time-out Amanda Lundquist assisted a kill by Anderson. Zylstra and Zacharias maintained their strong hits from the first set. It was a tough battle for Briercrest to come back after Ambrose held a strong lead. Ali Johnson, Briercrest’s libero, took many big dives to keep the ball in play. Unfortunately, they couldn’t make the necessary comeback and lost 25-22.

The third set had Briercrest playing well as a team and the energetic crowd helped to fuel their excitement. Janae Rapley was in this set and helped the team with big blocks and kills. The third consisted of many long rallies full of great sets by Lundquist, blocks by Anderson and Zylstra and kills and roll-shots by Zacharias. The set ended on a win for Briercrest with a kill by Rylee Wiebe, a score of 25-16.

The fourth and final set was an important one for Ambrose to win to make the match last five and give them a chance to win it. Anderson played a strong defensive set and held many blocks this set while Reinhardt played a strong offensive game with a great deal of kills. Kathleen Bruce stepped into the game and used her strong serve and hits to keep the home team ahead. The game finished with Briercrest on top winning the fourth with a score of 25-23 on one final kill by Anderson in her last game playing at home.

The Player of the Game for the Ambrose Lions was Ashtyn McKenzie and for Briercrest was Amanda Lundquist who had a game high 43 assists, 1 service ace, 6 digs and 1 kill. Sam Zacharias had a game high 16 kills, Ali Johnson had a game high 22 digs, Mikayla Reinhardt had 10 kills and 9 digs and Rylee Wiebe had 4 kills and 4 digs.

The next and final game of the regular season will be on the road in Red Deer, Alberta against Red Deer College on Friday, February 20^th at 6:00PM. If you are unable to make the game, the online broadcaster is available through acac.tv.

Thanks to all of the fans who came out to support the women’s volleyball team throughout the course of the year and congratulations to the team as they have had an incredible season. Good luck in the playoffs!

 

To keep updated on news and progress for the teams you can “like” the Briercrest Volleyball facebook page.