By Zach Amin

Rattlers begin quest for gold at the Snake Pit

Feb 22, 2018 | 8:47 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – It’s gold or bust for the Medicine Hat College Men’s Volleyball Rattlers.

That’s the mentality heading into Provincials this Thursday. After qualifying for the CCAA National Championship last season and leaving with a bronze medal, the Rattlers hope to change the narrative this time around. Medicine Hat finished runner-up last year in Red Deer. Beginning Thursday, the tournament is held in the friendly confines of Medicine Hat College. The “Snake Pit” has been a tough place for visitors to play this season. The Rattlers are 8-4 on home court. That’s a statistic head coach Mark Porter hopes can work in his team’s favour.

“You talk to the other coaches in the league, they don’t wanna come in here and play us. I’ve talked to a few of the other guys even in Provincials, they’re worried about coming in here because they know what great support we get,” Porter says.

Libero Kreggan Scharnatta is in his last year with the team, and hopes to finish his career on a high note.

“We want to get gold at Provincials and gold at Nationals. Like we have that mentality and we have that mindset that we just want to go for gold,” Scharnatta says.

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Being from Medicine Hat, Scharnatta is excited to play his final ACAC game in front of friends and family.

“All my family from Saskatchewan are coming up, my sister is coming down, and all my friends and family that live here are all coming out for support so it should be a good crowd,” Scharnatta says.

He’s not the only Rattler excited to play at the Snake Pit. Falkenburg, Sweden native Alfred Dalevik is hyped up just thinking about the home crowd. 

“I was walking to the gym before practice and I just started smiling thinking about how cool it will be on Thursday walking out on the court. So yeah, it will be awesome seeing a lot of familiar faces in the crowd and it’s going to be loud in here so I’m stoked on it,” Dalevik says.

Medicine Hat has had an up-and-down season, enduring a tough eight game losing streak then following it up with four straight wins. The Rattlers finished the regular season with a 13-11 record. They kick off Provincials Thursday night against the Keyano College Huskies at 8:00 p.m. 

Keyano College is the top team in the ACAC sporting a record of 21-3. They ended the season on a six game winning streak. That doesn’t seem to bother Rattlers Middle Brodie Porter, who isn’t too concerned about the Standings heading into Provincials.

“It’s kind of a clean slate for every team, the record in the regular season doesn’t matter anymore. Every team has got the opportunity to go out there and win the whole thing. We’re just prepared and ready to go,” Porter says.

 The two finalists in this year’s ACAC Provincial Championship qualify for Nationals.