By Justin Steenhof

Lakeland Rustlers (1-0) vs. Briercrest (1-2)

Saturday November 3, 2012

Briercrest College looked to rebound from a disappointing home opener and improve on their loosing record. However, Lakeland was just too much as Briercrest fell three sets to none (25-22, 25-20, 25-18)

             Lakeland came out swing using hard serving to earn an early lead in the first set. Jumping out to a quick 7-2 the Rustlers looked to carry the momentum over from their win last night. A kill from Elly Wendel however would shift the momentum, as Briercrest would look to climb back into the set. A few smart plays and a nice stuff block furthered Briercrest’s cause as they narrowed the gap to only three early on. Briercrest would continue to rally behind some nice scramble points and well placed tips and tied the game at thirteen. Lakeland would answer the Clipper rally with strong serving and earn back a slim three-point lead and force a Briercrest timeout. The teams would begin to trade points with Briercrest trying but unable to cut into the Lakeland lead. A small run by the Rustlers would result in a possible set point for Lakeland and a Briercrest timeout. Two quick points by Briercrest made it a 22-24 point set and the Rustlers would need a timeout. The Rustlers would respond well out of the timeout and take the set 25-22.

            While the Rustlers would earn the first two points of the set Briercrest would respond with a huge kill by Wendel. Lakeland would again respond with strong serving but again Wendel would provide an offensive spark for the Clippers. A smartly place tip by Erin Anderson plus strong serving by Wendel would bring Briercrest back into the set. But the Rustlers would again lean on their strong serving and blocking to regain the lead and force a Briercrest timeout with the score 11-6 in favor of the Rustlers. Briercrest would look to get their offence going with a nice kill by Whitney Zylstra but Lakeland would again go to their strong serving and blocking to try and stifle the Clipper attack. Lakeland would also start an offensive attack of their own which led to a Briercrest timeout with the score 19-13. A nice stuff block by Wendel and Anderson would provide a spark and a kill from Starlet Peterson would add to the potential comeback. A missed serve by Briercrest though would result in a 25-20 set loss and Briercrest going down 2-0.

A desperate Briercrest team looked to keep the match going as they took the slim but early lead on a kill by Mikayla Reinhardt. Wendel would continue her strong play, again providing the offense that Briercrest was looking for. However, the Rustlers seemed to have all the answers, as they simply would not go away, even taking the slight lead early on. Neither team though could size the momentum as traded points back and forth with Wendel again providing some kills for Briercrest. The strong serving and blocking that Lakeland had shown before again came into play providing the Rustlers with some quick points and forcing a Briercrest timeout down 12-8. Two kills by Zylstra and Wendel and two by Reinhardt brought the Clippers to a tie game. Lakeland would answer with two kills of their own to regain the lead which resulted in a Briercrest timeout with the score 18-14. Briercrest would come no closer than that as the Rustlers used their strong serving and some high powered offense to close out the third and final set 25-18.

Coach Nolan Weinmaster saw some positive things in the loss.

“We attacked offensively better then yesterday (referring to Friday’s game) as well as stepped up the consistency of our serving and made some good adjustments,” said Weinmaster. “But, Lakeland showed that we need to get better at some of the smaller details and we will address that in practices. Lakeland is one of the more experienced teams in the league so I felt it was a good battle.”

Lakeland Rustlers player of the Game: #12 Peggy Somerfield with 7 digs, 3 aces and 9 kills

Briercrest Clippers player of the Game: #15 Elly Wendel with 6 digs, 1 block, 1 ace and 11 kills

Briercrest falls to a (1-3) record with their next game coming on November 9 in Caronport versus Augustana.