Clippers win in Straight Sets over Rattlers in the Snake Pit

The 10-6 Briercrest Clippers were in the Snake Pit to take on the 4-12 Medicine Hat College Rattlers. The first point was a marathon with the ball crossing the net at least 5 times. From here the teams moved into more traditional Men's Volleyball with points coming quickly on side-outs. As the score started to climb up, little separated the teams in the first half of the set with the teams knotted at 7. The Clippers were able to once again create a small advantage of 2 with the help of Bryton Codd and his offence. But the Rattlers Aleksa Zivic was able to serve 2 aces and erase the Clipper advantage. Briercrest scored again making their lead 14-12. The Clippers from here took a few weak points off Rattler errors and jumped out to an 18-13 lead. This forced the Rattlers to take a timeout. Medicine Hat was able to get a side-out out of the break, but was immediately answered by the Clippers. Briercrest continued to roll, relying heavily on their 2 offensive weapons, Karym Coleman and Bryton Codd. They propelled the Clippers to a first set victory, 25-19.

The second set started with another Clippers kill from Coleman, and a Rattler side-out to get things going. Another Clippers lead came from 2 Bryton Codd aces putting them up 5-2 before the Rattlers could answer. The only time the Clippers seemed to go away from Coleman and Codd were on a scramble play. With the Clippers exploding out to a 9-3 lead, the Rattlers took their first timeout. Briercrest continued to pull away coming out of the break. The score read 14-6 with the Clippers continuing to dominate play at the net. Their strong play continued from behind the serving line as the Clippers continued to serve aces going up 18-8 late in the set. With the big lead, the Clippers cruised to a 25-15 second set victory.

Down 2-0, the Rattlers needed the set to stay alive so they put a much different looking lineup on the floor. This spurred the home side to take a 2-0 lead before the Clippers responded. Briercrest came right back to take a 4-3 lead before the game again evened out with the teams tied a 5. Errors continued to kill the Rattlers, especially when they gained momentum. Again the Clippers started to carve out a lead, up 10-6 after more Rattlers errors. The Rattlers chipped away, only down 2, 10-12, they scored again and reduced the deficit to one. Able to score again right away, the set was knotted at 12. The Clippers broke the tie and again jumped out to a 2 point lead, 15-13. Medicine Hat was playing much better at the net and passing the ball in the set, leading to a tighter contested set. With the help of their 2 big hitters, Briercrest again extended their lead late, up 19-16 as the game entered the late stages. The Rattlers battled back quickly as a huge block brought them back within 1, 19-20. The Clippers responded quickly and re-took their lead, but the Rattlers tied it at 21 forcing Briercrest to take a timeout. The Clippers scored quickly out of the break and were able to take a 24-22 lead with a chance to serve for the match. The Rattlers gained a side-out but still trailed 24-23 in the final stages of the set. The Clippers took the Straight sets victory 25-23.

The ACAC Players of the game were Jadon Ward for Briercrest and Jovan Stepanovic for MHC