By Justin Steenhof

Briercrest College Clippers (4-1) vs. University of Alberta, Augustana Vikings (2-3) Saturday November 10, 2012

The Briercrest Clippers used a hard hitting high powered offence to defeat the Augustana Vikings three sets to one (23-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-13). This win provided the Clippers with their second straight weekend sweep.

The Augustana Vikings came out of the gate strong, looking to win their third game of the season. They jumped out to the early lead using strong blocking and some solid serving. Briercrest would try and answer with their own blocking provided by Kyle Pankratz and Josh Wendel as they attempted to get back into the set. However, early on Augustana just had too much energy and offence for the Clippers to deal with as no matter what Briercrest got going the Vikings always seemed to have the answer. Briercrest would look to Pankratz early as he had provided them with 19 kills on Friday night and again Pankratz would answer the call with some much needed offence. Steven Guenther would provide some strong serving while Josh Senneker would kill the ball as Briercrest would cut the Viking lead to two.

The Briercrest momentum would continue as Briercrest tied the game on the strong serving of Cody Quiring and then take the lead on a massive block by Brad Harms as Augustana would need a timeout. The Vikings though would fight back to tie the game at 23 with some strong serving as this time it would be Briercrest that would need a timeout. Two straight points by Augustana would give the Vikings the 25-23 set win and a one to nothing set lead.

Again it would be the Vikings coming out strong as they would again jump to the early lead but Quiring would provide some offense while the double block of Harms and Carter Reimer would pull Briercrest back into the game. Continuing the momentum was Pankratz with a kill and then another block to tie the game.  The score would continue to remain close as Guenther started to step up leading the Clippers offensive attack, however again the Vikings would seem to have all the answers as they would continue to lead the set by four.  Showing some great mental fortitude Briercrest would battle all the way back to take the slim lead midway through the set.

Augustana would not simply roll over though and once again Briercrest found themselves tied and needing a spark. Some strong serving off the bench by Matthew Pauls and a kill by Wendel would put Briercrest in the driver’s seat and leave the Vikings needing a timeout.  A stuff blocky by Harms and Carter would close out the second set with the score 25-21 tying up the game at one set apiece.

Briercrest would avoid a third straight slow start and this time the score would remain close right off the bat. Guenther gave Briercrest the lead with a huge kill but the Vikings would respond with a kill of their own. The hard hitting style of volleyball would continue as both teams battled to seize the momentum as they traded the lead. A block by Pankratz would be the spark the Clippers were looking for as they quickly put up three straight points to take the lead. An outstanding rally for Briercrest in which they had attack after attack ended with a massive Wendel kill and an Augustana timeout.             

Quiring would continue the momentum with an absolutely crushing hit straight after the timeout. Briercrest would continue to find their offence as they started to pull away from the Vikings and once again the Augustana coach would need a timeout. Guenther would continue his strong play as the hard hitting volleyball continued with both teams providing kills. Briercrest would finish out the set strong as Guenther could not be stopped adding numerous points off of his jump serve as Briercrest took the third set 25-19 taking a two to one set lead.

4^th set:

This time it was Briercrest who started the set strong as a free ball kill by Quiring set the tone early on as Briercrest took the quick lead. Quiring would continue to play on another level providing points not just with his offence but defense as well, as the Clippers looked to close out the match. The Briercrest onslaught would continue as Harms joined in with a kill of his own while Quiring continued to own the fourth set using his jump serve to increase the Briercrest lead. The Vikings just had no answer for the strong play of Briercrest and once again it was Guenther providing the offense with a kill and then Wendel and Jachin Karg showing some strong defense with a huge block.

The Vikings would need a timeout as they were on the verge of falling apart trailing by double digits. Two huge double blocks by Wendel and Pankratz would put Briercrest even further ahead as Briercrest looked to close out the match. A missed serve would be the end as Briercrest would take the fourth and final set 25-13 and a three to one set win.

Augustana Vikings Player of the Game: #10 Nazheef Gangii two blocks, two aces, 11 digs, and game high 13 kills

Briercrest Clippers Player of the Game: #10 Steven Guenther one block, three kills, nine digs, and a team high 10 blocks

Game notes: Briercrest was led by Cody Quiring’s four service aces and 11 digs to go along with nine kills and two blocks, and Kyle Pankratz’s four blocks to go along with his nine kills, one ace and four digs. Briercrest once again owned the battle at the net and serving with 14 blocks and 12 service aces to Augustana’s seven and four respectively.

Briercrest’s record rises to (5-1) with their next game coming on the road against NAIT on November 16.