Close Battle between Lions and Rattlers

The Stands were Packed in the Snake Pit to see the Medicine Hat College Rattlers take on the Ambrose Lions. Using the crowd the Rattlers were able to score 2 quick points before a service error gave the ball back to the lions. An ace from the home side saw them increase their lead 5-2. The Crowd was already in the game as a few big early kills saw the crowd erupt in elation. The Lions were able to slowly crawl back into the set trailing only by one 9-8. A sloppy Rattler attack saw the Lions able to tie at 9. 2 back to back aces saw the lions take the lead for the first time in the set, but the Rattlers roared back with a huge block to tie it at 11. The Rattlers had 3 defensive errors in a row to let the Lions once again take a lead as the set passed the mid point. Down 18-13 the home side looked to regroup with a timeout. They were able to convert this into some momentum and forced the Lions to take a timeout. Ambrose was able to continue to hold on to their lead as they cruised to a 25-19 first set win. 

The Second set opened with the teams trading early side-outs.this continued through the early part of the set with neither team able to grab control and hold serve. This continued as the score was tied at 9 with no team holding serve longer than 2. Until Brady Burkitt from the Rattlers Rattled off 4 straight and took the home side out to a 12-9 lead. The visitors were forced to take a timeout to get Brady off his streak. Unfortunately for them the Rattlers came out with a quick ace to keep the momentum on their side. This continued as the Rattlers were able to open up the lead just a bit more now 17-12 as the set moved into the late stages. The Lions quickly scored 2 to once again claw back within striking distance. On the back of a couple Rattler errors, Ambrose came back to tie it up at 17. The Lions continued their momentum taking 2 more points before the Rattlers could respond. Medicine Hat responded strong tying the set at 19. The back and forth continued with the score climbing evenly late. The Lions took a late 24-22 lead forcing the Rattlers to take a late timeout. Able to score out of the break, the Rattlers needed to hold serve to force extra points, but a quick Lion kill saw them take the second set 25-23 and a 2-0 lead heading into the third. 

The Third set saw the Lions jump out to a quick 3-0 lead before the Rattlers could respond. Finally setting up a good attack the Rattlers were able to run 2 good attacks and get their offence on track. They quickly chipped away and found themselves back within 1. Finally tying it up at 6, the Rattlers looked to take advantage of the momentum and took their first lead. Short lived, as the Lions immediately tied it up. The teams continued to trade points and side-outs as the teams were knotted at 12. The Lions were able to win a scramble point and take the lead 15-13. The Rattlers went ahead with a big rally coming back to take a 17-16 lead and forcing the Lions to call timeout. The Rattlers continued to hold their lead out of the break taking a 20-18 lead. The Lions quickly cancelled this as they tied it up at 20 . the Rattlers were once again able to score 2 quick points to re open the lead 23-21. The Rattlers were up 24-23 with the chance to side-out for the win. A quick point saw the Rattlers take set 3 25-23 and extend the match to a 4th set. 

Ambrose started the 4th on a 5-0 run taking the crowd out of it early. Another ace from the visitors saw the Rattlers have to burn a timeout early. Coming out of the break the Rattlers reeled off 3 straight to cut the lead in half. This was not enough however as the Lions continued to control the set early leading 11-7. Another 2 points from the Rattlers saw them cut the deficit to 2 bringing the game back within striking distance. Once again down 3, 13-16 the Rattlers took their second timeout looking to regain their momentum from earlier. The Rattlers were able to bring it to 16-17 and held serve hoping to tie the set. After a huge scramble point the Rattlers tied the set at 17. A unfortunate mistake from the Rattlers cost them a huge point but they were able to make it up on the next serve. The set was once again tied, now at 19. This forced the Lions to take a timeout in an effort to regain the momentum. Coming out of the break, the Lions took back the service advantage but were quickly answered by the Rattlers. The teams continued to trade quick side-outs as the score neared the end. A huge ambrose block saw them go up 23-21 but the Rattlers once again replied. The Lions closed it out 25-23 and took it 3-1 sets

The ACAC Players of the game were Nathan Chernilk for Medicine Hat and Nikitaa Marchenkov