The Briercrest College Clippers are returning to the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference men’s volleyball championship tournament.
Not that that should be anything of a surprise at this point -- when you’ve qualified for the event the previous five seasons, the annual trip to play for the title becomes almost expected.
The Clippers did have a bit of work to do before booking their spot at Keyano College in Fort McMurray this coming weekend, though, as they took on Ambrose College in a play-in game on Saturday night.
Briecrest left nothing to chance in the contest at Margaret P. Reimer gymnasium, rolling to a 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 31-29) victory to punch their ticket to the eight-team tournament for the sixth-straight year, joining the women's team who qualified a day earlier.
As per usual, Karym Coleman led the offence, putting down 17 kills and adding three service aces to his totals. The fourth-year veteran also had a solid game defensively, recording nine digs. Libero Brady Wachtel did his job behind the line, picking up 15 digs, while setter Jeremy Martens picked up 32 assists. Jackson Anderson also had a solid game at the net with eight kills.
The Clippers -- who finished fourth in the South Division with a 10-9 record -- open their ACAC championship appearance on Thursday when they take on the North Division’s top team, the 15-4 King’s University Eagles. The two teams met once during the regular season back on Nov. 5, with the Clippers pushing King’s to the limit before falling 3-2 (25-23, 25-23, 22-25, 15-25, 15-8).
A win there sends Briercrest into the semifinal Friday night, followed by the medal games on Saturday.
The Clippers women’s basketball team will make history on Saturday night when they host their first-ever ACAC playoff game at the Reimer gymnasium.
Briercrest earned the right to host the contest thanks to one of the best regular seasons in team history, with the crew putting together a 13-8 record to finish in fourth place in the South Division.
They’d like to be going into the postseason on a lengthy winning streak, but saw their run of eight straight wins come to an end with a 91-84 loss to Augustana in Camrose on Saturday.
The Clippers led by 12 after the first quarter but saw the Vikings put together one of the best offensive quarters of basketball in the league this season, outsourcing Briercrest 34-21 to take a 44-43 lead into the half.
Melissa Ellis enjoyed a solid outing with 23 points to lead the offence, while Amber Fichtner was her usual self with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Sydney Latrace had 18 points, Brooklyn Martens contributed 11.
The Clippers will now host either the SAIT Trojans or Olds College Broncos, pending their playoff game on Thursday night. Tip off on Saturday is 6 p.m. in Caronport.
Things kept rolling along for the Briercrest men’s hockey team, as they picked up a pair of weekend wins over the SAIT Trojans to improve to 11-11 on the season and give themselves a chance to host a home playoff game pending results this coming weekend.
The Clippers opened the weekend with a 4-0 win over SAIT on Friday before battling to a 5-4 win on Saturday.
Dominik Tmej stopped all 29 shots he faced to earn the first win over SAIT, who had former Moose Jaw Warriors netminder Boston Bilous tending goal at the other end of the ice.
Trey Doell and Campbell Enns gave the Clippers a 2-0 lead out of the first, Joshua Wiens and Caleb Grandfield added insurance markers in the third.
The Clippers overcame some adversity in the rematch, as despite trailing 2-0 early in the second, they were able to get within one before the period was out thanks to goals from Alex Pellerin and Brandon Kelly. Doell tied the game 33 seconds into the third and after SAIT retook the lead, Granfield would tie the game again and eventually send things into overtime.
There, Jacob Arsenault would finish things off to give Briercrest the weekend sweep.
Tmej had 39 saves in the victory.
The Clippers will look to move into fourth place and secure home ice advantage in the first round with a pair of games in Lac La Biche against the Portage Voyageurs this Friday and Saturday.
