Briercrest Men’s volleyball team took on Red Deer College’s Kings tonight in an extremely well fought match. Both teams coming off national championship finals runs, a highly competitive game was to be expected. Having finished second to the Kings last year at nationals, Briercrest was ready for another shot. The Red Deer Kings in turn looking to end in similar fashion as their 2013-2014 run with the Clippers.

To begin tonight’s game, the first set was a back and forth affair, with each team showing some excellent defense as well as some strong attacks. Briercrest was ultimately able to secure a 25-23 victory, thanks to a massive kill from the right side Zac Ens. Both teams had some service errors, but aside from that it was an excellently played match. Middle Josh Wendel showed tremendous leadership and was a large part of Briercrest’s ability to take the first set.

The second set resulted in another close score at the end, 25-20, however Red Deer did prove to have substantial control throughout play. Red Deer’s Kashtin De Souza was instrumental via his serves in the Kings’ victory. Briercrest’s passing, late blocking, and a few service errors led to a weaker performance on their side.

Third set was close for the majority of the set, both teams displaying excellent attacking as well as impressive defense. It was Red Deer however that as the set progressed was able to play with fewer mistakes, especially in their passing game. On the back of some excellent playing by veteran Tim Finnigan they were able to secure the set 25-19.

For the fourth and final set, Red Deer came on strong and played close to a perfect game. Their defense and attack was nigh unstoppable as they rolled to a 25-10 victory to win 3-1 (23-25, 25-20, 25-19, 25-10). Briercrest will need to stop making unforced errors if they hope to change this loss into a win tomorrow.

Players of the game were Josh Wendel for Briercrest and Tim Flinnigan for Red Deer. Both athletes worked hard and stayed disciplined throughout tonight’s match.

Wendel had a team high 12 digs to go with 10 kills and two assists. Other Briercrest top performers were Zac Ens with a team high 15 kills, Carter Reimer with 34 assists, Jonah Johnson with the lone Briercrest service ace and Joel Rosewarn with two stuff blocks.

Red Deer led Briercrest in almost all stats; 50-43 kills, 45-37 assists, 7-1 service aces and 6-3 blocks. Each team had 57 digs.

Tomorrow both teams rematch at 3pm at the Margaret P. Reimer Memorial Gymnasium. Best of luck to both teams tomorrow.

If you can’t make it to the Margaret P. Reimer Memorial Gymnasium for tomorrow’s game be sure to watch online at acac.tv.

For up to date information on the Briercrest volleyball team, “like” the Briercrest Volleyball facebook page.