Eagles advance to fifth-place match with four-set win against Kodiaks

The King's University Eagles turned a Thursday negative into a Friday positive, winning the opening match of Day 2 at the 2023 Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Men's Volleyball Championship Presented by Elite Promo Marketing. 

The four-set win (25-23, 28-26, 22-25, 27-25) against the Lethbridge College Kodiaks booked their spot in Saturday's fifth place game. 

"I thought we played really good," Chris Rooker of the Eagles' said. "It was a really good bounce back from yesterday. Our defence was really improved, our outside blockers did a really good job and it left me and Carter [Roflik] a very easy job to go out there." 

The Eagles took a narrow 25-23 win in the opening set and won two-point favour over the Kodiaks in the second set that required play beyond the 25-point mark. To their credit, the Kodiaks responded with a tight set win of their own, winning 25-22 in the third set. The Eagles readjusted well though in the fourth set to secure the win. 

"The mental had to be there and they showed it," Eagles Head Coach Ryan Teliske said. "It was a great battle from both teams. Lethbridge definitely came out every set so hot and our guys had to battle back every set."

Four Eagles finished with double-digit kills, led by a 14-kill effort from Jayden Hiebert. Tanner Piers was one behind with 13 while Kaiden Aceron had 11 and Rooker had 10. Piers and Mason Gorski tied for the team lead with 10 digs each while Gorski added 51 assists in the four-set game. 

On the Kodiaks' side, Nolan Moes led all players with 22 kills. Gavin Moes was next, contributing 11 kills in four sets worth of action. Noah Shipton picked up 35 assists and six digs handling setting duties for the Kodiaks. Shaye Wall led all players with 11 digs.

Gavin Moes and Rooker earned Player of the Game honours for their respective sides. 

The Eagles will now play in the fifth-place match on Saturday, February 25. The match is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. first serve.