By Scott Roblin

Rattlers volleyball teams lose five-set marathons in Calgary

Jan 6, 2018 | 11:41 AM

CALGARY, AB – A pair of long matches for the Medicine Hat College Rattlers volleyball teams on Friday night, beginning the new year with games against the SAIT Trojans.

On the men’s side, Medicine Hat was trying to kick 2018 off with bang after stumbling into the holiday break with a handful of losses.

Coming out swinging, the Rattlers attacked the net with 15 kills and took the opening set by a score of 25-22.

Despite adding another 17 kills in the second set, the Rattlers were unable to hold off the SAIT offence and dropped a tight set 26-24 to tie things up.

Medicine Hat had a chance to close out the match with a 25-21 win in the third set, but the Trojans were able to stave off a loss with a 25-23 fourth set victory to force a game-deciding fifth.

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The Trojans were able to muster a comeback on their home court, winning the fifth set 15-10 and taking the match three sets to two.

Medicine Hat and SAIT racked up 57 kills each on the night with Vitor Pereiira (16), Joao Pedro Freire (16), and Alfred Dalevik (12) leading the way.

Seeing their record drop to 9-4 on the 2017-18 season, the Rattlers sit in second place in the ACAC South Division behind the Trojans.

The Rattlers women’s team was also looking to bust out of a slump, taking on a Trojans squad that had lost their last eight games in a row.

Medicine Hat struggled out of the gate against SAIT, losing the opening set 25-19 before falling 32-30 in a lengthy second set.

Needing to win their next two sets to stay alive, the Rattlers edged out a pair of victories 25-22 and 25-20 to force a deciding fifth set as well.

At the midway mark of the set, the Rattlers were in full control with an 8-2 lead which prompted a Trojans time out.

From there, SAIT rallied back and were able to send the Rattlers to the bus with a 15-13 win to take the match in the fifth set.

Amber Stigter had a game-high 14 kills in the loss for Medicine Hat, while Janessa Oelke led the team with 45 assists.

The back half of the home-and-home series between the Rattlers and Trojans goes on Saturday night at the ‘Snake Pit.’

First serve in the women’s game will start at 6:00 pm, with the men’s match following at 8:00 pm.