Rattlers Upset Kings at Home
The second place Red Deer Kings headed south to Medicine Hat to Face off with the fourth ranked Rattlers. The Rattlers hoped to steal one at home against this high powered Kings team. The First set opened with the Kings on a 4-0 run. The Rattlers were able to steal back some momentum. The teams traded side-outs as both offenses were firing. Teams were able to quickly kill the ball with little resistance. Red Deer's fast start had given them the lead, but Medicine Hat started to block and chip away at the red deer lead. The Kings were able to hold on to a slim lead as teams again traded side-outs. An even affair, little seemed to separate these two high flying teams. The Red Deer lead early continued to hold until the Rattlers Keandre Evans was able to serve for 3 tying the game at 17. The teams traded timeouts in an attempt to ice the server. The Rattlers were able to battle and take a late lead up 22-20. But the Kings answered right back tying it at 22. A big Kill from the Rattlers Evans and they took the following point to take a 24-22 lead. A Kings point still gave Medicine Hat the chance to side-out for the win. But a Kings point on a long rally meant they had to serve for the match instead. Tying the set again at 25, the Kings needed two to take the set. An extremely loud gym was wreaking havoc on the Kings serving. They served one into the net followed by a Rattler kill. This ended the first set with the Rattlers winning 27-25.
The second set started with another Kings serving error. They were able to capitalize on their next opportunity for points with a big kill. The Rattlers came right back as teams settled in to trading side-outs. The first break came when the Rattlers committed an error allowing the Kings to gain momentum expanding their lead to 3. The Rattlers immediately answered back narrowing the lead to one. As the set continued the Rattlers were able to string together serves and erasing all deficit taking a two point lead 10-8. The Kings battled back again to tie the set at 10. The Rattlers again made a small break scoring 3 straight to lead 14-11. This forced the Kings to take their first timeout. Coming out of the timeout the Rattlers continued to pad their lead now 17-12 the Kings were forced to take their second timeout. Able to convert on the first play out of the timeout, and a Rattler error, the Kings reduced the lead to 3. Having enough, the Rattlers overpowered the block and hammered home another kill. Zach Frank blocked the next ball for the Rattlers again extending the lead to 5. 20-15, the Rattlers had control late in the set and continued to roll thanks to the energy in the gym. A couple of huge blocks and kills, and the Rattlers had the Home crowd on its feet. They pulled away with the win 25-17 and led 2 sets to none.
The third set was do or die for the visiting Kings. They got off to a hot 2-0 start knowing this. The teams traded side-outs as they settled in for a tough third set. The Kings were able to extend their lead to 3 from a Rattlers attacking error. They continued their strong play as the Rattlers attempted to reign in the Kings offence. The Rattlers again chipped away at the lead bringing it back to one. After trading side-outs the Rattlers scored another evening the game at 8. The Rattlers took their first lead thanks to an Ace from setter Nickola Sreckovic. The Kings re-took their lead straight away but again the Rattlers battled right back to regain their advantage. A call that went the Kings way gave them back their momentum as they were able to tie the set at 14 before the Rattlers retook it. Another Medicine Hat point on a sloppy Red Deer play saw them leading 16-14, forcing the Kings to take a timeout. The teams traded side-outs coming out of the break with Medicine Hat able to maintain their advantage. A very controversial point won by the Kings gave them a burst of energy. Coming back to tie the set at 18, the Kings took the lead on the next point. The Rattlers again battled back with two straight to regain their lead. A tight set, both teams looked for an advantage late. The Kings were the first to break through on a terrible Rattlers attacking error. They held the service advantage late leading 23-22. After the Rattlers tied it at 23, a serving error gave the Kings the chance to serve for the set. The Rattlers answered with a fast side out. Another Kings side-out and a Rattlers Error gave the Kings the 3rd set 25-23. Red Deer trailed 2 sets to 1.
The fourth set opened with teams trading side-outs to start the game. Medicine Hat took a 2 point lead early as they were able to come up with a big block. They used this momentum to add another to their lead. Now up 3, Medicine Hat needed to continue to apply pressure to the reeling Kings side. As they pushed down on the gas pedal their lead increased to 5. 8-3 Rattlers, the Kings took a timeout to regroup. This helped as they were able to convert their first chance out of the break. After scoring their next and reducing the Rattler lead to 3, the home side took their first timeout. Coming out of the break teams traded side-outs as the score rose. As the Rattlers passed the halfway point, they continued to maintain their lead. Red Deer was trying anything they could to battle back into the set. They were able to score 3 straight bringing the score within one. Again the energy in the gym ramped up as the teams were throwing everything at each other. A Kings attacking error allowed the Rattlers to regain their 3 point advantage and the Kings took their second timeout with the Rattlers leading 16-13. A momentum swing in the Kings favor saw them score 2 straight and again reduce the Rattler lead to 1. The Rattlers bench saw this and called a quick timeout in order to rectify the situation. This helped as the Rattlers scored the next two, regaining their lead. They extended their lead to 4 thanks to some solid defense. The Kings were again able to chip into the lead reducing it to two. A huge block from Alfred Dalevik allowed the Rattlers to once again take a 4 point lead. With the Rattlers up 23-19 and no timeouts for either team the Rattlers needed only to hold on to win the match. 2 quick points and the Rattlers had upset the Kings on home court 25-19 and 3 sets to 1
ACAC Players of the game:
RDC: Regan Fathers
MHC: Nikola Sreckovic