Rattlers volleyball swept by SAIT, futsal teams medal at pre-season tourney

Medicine Hat was able to mount a late rally in the fourth set to tie it at 24-24, however the Trojans closed the evening out with back-to-back points to earn the victory 26-24.

“Anytime we show that amount of heart, a loss feels a little less bad,” said Rattlers head coach Tyler Olson. “A loss always feels gross, hate to have it happen obviously. But, when you remain optimistic and look at where they’ve come just in the last couple months… it’s incredible. To be able to compete against that team is honestly incredible.”

Six of the Rattlers nine players hit the court for all four sets, while Saturday’s match marked the fourth time in five games MHC has extended their matches to either four or five sets.

“There’s a lot we can take away from it,” said outside hitter Nathan Chernik, “We’re slowly improving and there’s a lot of good things that came from this game. So, we’re taking a lot away from it which is good.”

Chernik had one of his best games of the season on Saturday, leading the Rattlers with a game-high 16 kills and also contributing 13 digs and a pair of service aces.

Stats that stuck out for Olson and the rest of the Rattlers coaching staff.

“It’s on the scoreboard, it’s on the paper,” said Olson. “He did an outstanding job, he’s doing exactly what we all want him to do. His teammates trust him out there, he’s staying aggressive the whole time, if he gets blocked one time out of five swings he doesn’t let it bother him. He’s level and that’s what I need out of my players.”

Even with the improvements, the Rattlers are still hard pressed in the battle of the ACAC South’s final playoff spot dropping to a 4-12 record with one win in their last five matches.

The Rattlers players will have to chase that last post-season berth without their star player as well, as sophomore KeAndre Evans left the team after first semester due to personal and family reasons.

“We’re missing him for sure,” said Olson. “But at the same time, as far as I’m concerned we’re [taking] strides and are miles ahead. We’re not thinking about that, if we kept thinking about that we wouldn’t even be close to where we are right now.”

Through 12 games this year, Evans racked up 148 kills and 70 digs, while also firing home 23 aces to begin the season.

Even with the loss of their most explosive player, Chernik said they believe there’s enough talent on the roster to fill the gaps from Evans’ departure.

“We’re a deep team so a lot of guys can step up,” he said. “We know guys can play to their capability and step up, and we can win games still.”

The Rattlers women’s team came within three points of avenging their own straight sets loss to the Trojans on Friday, however they endured the same fate as the men falling 3-2 at home.

Winning the second and third sets convincingly on Saturday night, the Rattlers were unable to put the puzzle together and lost the net two sets by 25-21 and 15-12 scores.

Brooke Christie, Amber Stigter, and Megan Hoeber all hit double-digits in kills for MHC, while defensively it was Stigter leading the way with a game-high 19 digs to her credit.

Dropping both games over the weekend after coming out of the Christmas break with back-to-back wins over Olds College, the 8-8 Rattlers currently sit four points behind Ambrose University for third place in the south.

Rattlers volleyball teams continue their home stand next weekend, opening up back-to-back games against the visiting Briercrest Clippers on Friday with matches at 6:00 and 8:00 pm.

Exhibition champs

Photo courtesy of Medicine Hat College Rattlers

MHC’s futsal season unofficially got underway over the weekend, culminating in a gold medal win for the Rattlers men’s team in Three Hills.

The Rattlers ran the table over all three of their exhibition games, defeating The King’s University Eagles in the gold medal final 4-1 on Sunday.

That victory over the Eagles followed a 2-1 win against the Olds College Broncos and a dominant 6-1 victory against the host Prairie College Pilots.

As for the Rattlers women’s futsal team, they also got their first games of the season under their belt with a pair of wins and a bronze medal up north.

Medicine Hat earned a 5-5 draw with Olds College to open the exhibition tournament on Saturday, before blanking Prairie College in their second game 9-0.

They closed out the weekend with 2-1 victory over the Lethbridge College Kodiaks on Sunday to claim the bronze medal and finish their tournament undefeated.

Next up, Olds College will host their futsal invitational tournament from February 15 to 16.

by Scott Roblin

Rattlers volleyball swept by SAIT, futsal teams medal at pre-season tourney

Exhibition champs

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