By Scott Roblin

Rattlers top Broncos twice to sweep weekend series

Nov 19, 2017 | 3:26 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Weekend sweeps for the Medicine Hat College Rattlers volleyball teams, however one game was over much quicker than the other on Saturday night-.

Beginning on the women’s side, the Rattlers ladies were coming off a 3-0 dispatching of the winless Olds College Broncos on Friday night.

Leads changed multiple times in the first set, with the Broncos battling back from a four-point deficit to take an 11-10 lead.

Medicine Hat was able to restore that lead however, eventually taking the opening set by a final score of 25-22.

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The Rattlers struggled in the second set with unforced errors and net violations, allowing the Broncos to pick up a 25-22 win of their own to tie the match at one game a piece.

Bouncing back in a big way in the third, the Rattlers got out to a 10-5 lead over Olds which continued to grow, besting the Broncos by a score of 25-14.

Needing to win their fourth set, Olds College came out strong with a seven-point lead and were able to tie the match at 2-2 with a 25-16 win.

In the fifth and deciding set, Medicine Hat finally found some consistency and were able to take the match with a 15-7 win over the Broncos.

Leading the Rattlers in kills on Saturday was Amber Stigter, posting a game-high 20 kills for Medicine Hat.

Stigter also had a big day defensively with 11 digs, which was second on the team to Shaya Suchy’s 14.

Third-year Rattler Paige Burton was named player of the game with six kills and seven blocks, and said the team was able to come alive in the fifth set and take the match.

“This was a big win for our team because we’ve been struggling in our fifth sets,” said Burton. “I think our energy just got down, we had lost two sets. But, we got our composure back and figured it out.”

Winning their fourth game of the season, the 4-6 Rattlers are now tied with Ambrose University and SAIT for fourth place in the South Division.

On the men’s side, the Rattlers were fresh off their fifth straight victory over Olds on Friday and a fourth-place national ranking.

Tyler Olson had a big opening set for Medicine Hat with a three-serve streak, guiding the home side to a 25-19 win to go up 1-0 on the Broncos.

Medicine Hat opened up a 5-2 lead in the second set, but Olds was able rally and tie the game at 15-15.

Zachary Frank was able to serve out the set for the Rattlers however, guiding Medicine Hat to a 25-18 victory.

In the third set, Medicine Hat was able to build up a nice cushion but stalled a number of times with match point on the line.

The Rattlers were able to put the game away in three sets though, winning 25-18 and sweeping their set with the Broncos.

Medicine Hat was only able to post 21 total kills on the afternoon, but it was their strong defensive play that bested Olds with every player on the Rattlers contributing at least one dig.

Olson, who played two years at Olds College, said the Rattlers weren’t able to secure a perfect weekend over the Broncos, but he’ll take the two wins.

“We wanted to walk out of this weekend with six-straight set wins, but we pulled through with a character win,” said Olson. “It takes a lot to come back after that first set loss, so it’s good. Two ‘W’s on the weekend is all we ever aim for, really.”

Moving to an ACAC-best 9-1 record on the year, the Rattlers lead the South Division with 18 points and are tied with Keyano College in the overall standings.

Just one more weekend of games before the Christmas break for the Rattlers volleyball teams, as Medicine Hat travels to Caronport, Saskatchewan on Friday to face Briercrest College.