An electrifying first set ending 32-30 for the Briercrest men’s volleyball team set the tone for the remainder of the game against Grande Prairie, winning 3-1 (32-30, 25-18, 23-25, 25-13).

The first set opened with both teams rallying for the lead, until the score evened out at 9-9. From there Briercrest pulled away, but Grande Prairie was never far behind. Briercrest maintained a 23-20 lead when Grande Prairie responded. Better late than never. Brad Harms, Josh Wendel and Josh Senneker all contributed to the final points for Briercrest, keeping the momentum alive. The teams alternated back and forth in a tense match until the game ended Briercrest 32-30, with Senneker scoring the final point. Briercrest’s Brad Harms commented,

“The first set’s always an emotional set, just coming out and battling your hardest.” He continued that going into the game confidently being able to play their game allowed the game to bag a win in the second set.

After a slower start to the second set, Briercrest pulled away from 6-4 and left Grande Prairie behind 18-12. Steve Guenther served two consecutive aces in that time before Grande Prairie called a time out. Grande Prairie rallied back and closed the gap slightly, Briercrest ending ahead 25-18.

Harms said, “We did really good with our defense picking balls off the floor and allowing our offense to run the way we normally do.”

Briercrest opened the third set with four consecutive points before Grande Prairie countered to make it 4-3. The remainder of the set was tight scoring as the teams alternated one-point leads throughout the remainder of the set. Grande Prairie called a time-out up 23-22 and come out to close the set 25-23.

Josh Wendel opened the fourth set serving, Briercrest claiming a 5-0 lead. Briercrest dominated the rest of the set, running away with the lead to finish 25-13.

“Tonight it felt like [many aspects the team has been working on] came together. We just worked as a team and stayed in the system so it worked to our advantage.” Harms went on to say that the win was confidence booster, enabling the Clippers to play their game. 

Grande Prairie’s player of the game was Devon Goodvin with seven kills, one ace, six digs and one block. Setter Carter Reimer was Briercrest’s player of the game with four kills, three digs, and one block. Jachin Karg had Briercrest’s high with 13 kills. Steve Guenther’s five aces was the game high. Josh Senneker had the team high 12 digs and as well as three blocks as did Josh Wendel. Briercrest led with 55 kills compared to Grande Prairie’s 40. Briercrest dominated with 12 aces and three for Grande Prairie.

Briercrest plays Grande Prairie again Saturday, November 23 at 3:00pm at the Margaret P. Memorial Gymnasium.

Games will be streamed online at Sportscanada.tv, and the Briercrest Volleyball facebook page.