Ooks comeback falls short in Friday night thriller

EDMONTON, Alta. - The NAIT Ooks men's volleyball team were defeated by The King's University Eagles 3-2 on Friday night in the NAIT Gymnasium, suffering their first loss at home this season.

Showing perhaps some holiday rust, NAIT was resilient in staging a comeback to force a fifth set but ultimately came up on the losing end.

Down by as many as ten in the opening set before losing 25-17, the Ooks were able to regroup and find their game to flip the script and win 25-18 for a second set win. After some back and forth exchanges, and with the third set tied 8-8, the Eagles went on a run of five unanswered points, which ultimately ended up being the difference in the set and allowed them to cruise to a 25-18 win.

The fourth and fifth sets had everything you could hope for as a sports fan. The drama was kicked up a level when down 24-23, NAIT rattled off three straight points to save a match point and force a fifth and deciding set. The Eagles were ultimately able to shake off that disappointment and win two consecutive points tied at 13-13 in the fifth to take the deciding set and hand NAIT a rare loss on the season.

The teams will rematch on Saturday, January 11, 2020.

Players of the Game

NAIT Ooks – Daniel Ward

King's Eagles – Chris Graham

The Big Picture

NAIT Ooks – 11-2 - First in the ACAC north division

King's Eagles - 8-5 - Third in the ACAC north division

What's Next?

The teams will rematch tomorrow at 8:00 pm in the King's Gymnasium.