The Briercrest College Clippers put together a huge upset on the first day of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference men’s volleyball championships, and as a result, find themselves still in the medal hunt in Fort McMurray.
Facing the top team in the North Division in their quarter-final match-up on Thursday night, the Clippers would go on to defeat The King’s University in an absolute barnburner, taking a 3-2 (25-17, 25-19, 20-25, 21-25, 18-16) victory to advance to the semifinal.
The Eagles came into the tournament with a 15-4 record and were the decisive favourites against the 10-9 Clippers, but there was precedence for how their match turned out -- the two teams had also gone to five games in their lone regular-season meeting, with King’s prevailing in that match.
Outside hitter Karym Coleman came up with one of his biggest games of the season when his team needed it the most, putting down 33 kills to lead the offence. Libero Brady Wachtel had 11 digs, while setter Jeremy Martens had 40 assists. Tyson Nachtigall also had a solid game at the net with six kills.
The Clippers will now face NAIT in the semifinal on Friday night, with the winner there advancing to the gold medal game Saturday. The teams met once in the regular season, with Briercrest taking a 3-1 (25-16, 26-24, 20-25, 25-19) victory.
The news wasn’t as good for the Clippers women’s volleyball team, as they ran into a juggernaut in the Lakeland Rustlers (18-1 regular season) and would drop a 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-13) decision.
Outside hitter Kelsey Simes led the offence with 10 kills, while Faith Buhler and Brynn Hardy had 10 digs apiece. Setter Jess Zacharias picked up 28 assists.
The Clippers now drop to the consolation side and face Keyano College on Friday evening.
The ACAC men’s and women’s volleyball awards were handed out at the championship tournament, with several Briercrest athletes landing on the All-Conference team
Coleman was named to the men’s team for the third-straight year after putting up 378 points on the season, close to 100 more than the next player.
Libero Brady Wachtel joined Coleman on the team after a stellar campaign in his defensive role that saw the third-year veteran lead the ACAC in digs with 168.
Three players from the Clippers women’s team received All-Conference honours.
Fifth-year veteran Jess Zacharias was named the All-Conference setter after finishing second in the South Division with 514 assists and 7.79 assists per game.
Faith Buhler took outside hitter honours for the second-straight season, with the fourth-year veteran putting up a team-best 175 kills and finishing second in the South with 227 points.
Middle hitter Rachel Stead made her first appearance on the All-Conference roster, with the second-year veteran finishing third among middles with 1.67 kills per set and 143 points.
