By Scott Roblin

Rattlers volleyball clubs pick up split with Red Deer College

Nov 5, 2017 | 6:27 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Less than 24 hours after sweeping the Red Deer College Kings and Queens at home, the Medicine Hat College Rattlers volleyball teams returned to the ‘Snake Pit’ on Sunday for a pair of rematches.

It was an extremely close matchup in the men’s game after the Rattlers swept the Kings in three sets on Saturday.

Red Deer’s Adam Turlejski rattled off five straight points for the Kings in the opening set, highlighting a 25-21 victory for the visitors.

More of the same in the second set, with Red Deer taking an early lead which was expanded to five points at one time.

The Rattlers called a timeout which seemed to ignite the club, tying the set at 22-22.

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Both teams exchanged blows over the next few points, until Medicine Hat’s Alfred Dalevik served out the set to clinch a 28-26 second set win for the Rattlers.

The third set was another strong showing from both teams, with the Rattlers eventually taking a 24-20 stranglehold.

Red Deer fought back to tie the game at 24-24, but Medicine Hat showed the most endurance and ended up winning the third set by a 26-24 final.

In the fourth set, it was Medicine Hat’s power game coming alive over the final few points with Vitor Pereiira serving a pair of aces and closing out the game with a kill for a 25-23 final.

Pereiira led the way with 11 kills, while first-year Rattler Chad Sieben was named player of the game with two kills, five digs, and 22 assists.

He said the team was able to rally after finding some holes in the Kings’ defensive system.

“I think we ran the middles really well today,” said Sieben. “Avery [Triggs] did a really good job of running those middles and getting them into the game. Realized there was mismatches there and kind of got us going there.”

The Rattlers continue to be the cream of the crop in the ACAC’s South Division, leading the pack with a 7-1 record.

In the earlier game, the Rattlers women’s team was searching for their first win streak of the year after upsetting the Queens on Saturday in four sets.

The Queens were looking for some revenge in the first set, taking an 11-7 lead and eventually taking the opening game by eight points.

Medicine Hat held pace with Red Deer over the first few minutes of the second set, but it was McKenna Barthel’s three-point serving run that would prove to be the difference in a 25-20 Queens win.

Needing to win the third set, the Rattlers had their work cut out for them with the Queens taking a 5-1 lead.

Medicine Hat battled back to a 7-7 tie, but weren’t able to sustain their momentum with Red Deer picking up a 25-20 win in the set and a 3-0 sweep in the match.

Once again it was Amber Stigter posting a team-high 14 kills, with second-year Rattler Brooke Christie right behind her with nine kills and 10 digs of her own.

Christie said the team was feeling a little fatigued on the court, which showed as the match went along.

“I think we were a little bit tired,” said Christie. “Red Deer is a really good team, so I think that the long rallies kind of tired us out.”

Dropping their record to 2-6 on the season, the Rattlers women’s team currently sits in fifth place in their division.

The Rattlers are off for the next week and will return to action on November 17, when they begin a two-game home set against the Olds College Broncos.