All the way back: Rattlers women’s volleyball team erases two-set deficit to top Lions

By Ryan McCracken on October 22, 2018.

rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com @MHNMcCracken

It was the type of win that Medicine Hat Rattlers women’s volleyball coach Kim Stonehouse will be referencing for years to come.

Less than 24 hour after falling in straight sets at the hands of the Ambrose Lions, the Rattlers shook off a daunting two-set deficit and rallied to complete a thrilling five-set comeback (23-25, 23-25, 25-15, 25-12, 15-12) in Saturday’s home opener at the Snake Pit.

“Not very often does a team go down 0-2 and come back and win in that fashion,” said Stonehouse, whose squad improved to 3-1 with the win. “It’s huge for us. A split this weekend after losing in Ambrose, we needed it. Last year we struggled to win in five, so the more we prove to ourselves that we can win in five the better. If we’re in that situation again, I think the girls are confident that we’re able to come out on top. That’s really important.”

The rousing comeback wasn’t without its hiccups. After going up 12-1 in the fifth set, the Rattlers watched their lead shrink to a single point before outside hitter Amber Stigter finally sent the winning shot to the floor.

“Once we got it to 14, we knew we had it,” said Stigter, adding they made a few adjustments after the second set. “I think we worked better as a group. We contained them, everyone played their positions and I think that was a game changer. And our blocking, Brooke Christie, she stepped up her game.”

Stigter led the push with 15 kills while Christie added 10 kills and 10 digs, setter Jennifer Saj had 37 assists and 10 digs and libero Shaya Suchy dug out a team-high 11. Stigter, Christie and Mckenzie Griffith each blocked two shots.

“Everyone is just feeding off of each other,” said Stonehouse. “We’ve got a lot of returners, we’ve got some second, third and fourth-year players who had a lot of playing experience last year and that court maturity has really shown this season so far.”

Madeline Williscroft led Ambrose’s offence with 14 kills, Journey Flewell dug out seven and Sarah Janz had 20 assists. The loss follows up Ambrose’s 25-23, 25-19, 23-23 win over Medicine Hat Friday night, leaving them at 1-2 on the season.

“They came out super strong (Friday) and I think we just one-upped them today,” said Stigter. “We stayed relaxed, we stayed calm.”

Men’s volleyball

The Rattlers men’s volleyball team followed up their counterparts’ comeback with a convincing three-set victory over Ambrose (25-16, 25-21, 25-14) led by 14 kills from outside hitter Alfred Dalevik.

Medicine Hat managed to limit Ambrose to just 19 kills in the match, helped in part by five digs from both Austyn Ducharme and David Kent Canalejo. Nikola Sreckovic added 13 assists on offence to help keep Medicine Hat perfect with a 4-0 start to the ACAC season.

Harrison Rosewarm led the Lions with six kills and Carter McLenahan had five digs. Ambrose slipped to 0-3 with the loss.

The Rattlers return to the court Nov. 2 at Red Deer College.

Women’s soccer

Out on the pitch, the Rattlers women’s soccer team closed out their season with a pair of losses at home, falling 2-0 to the Lakeland Rustlers Saturday and 9-1 to the Red Deer Queens Sunday.

Haley Nassichuk-Dean led the Queens to Sunday’s victory with a staggering five-goal performance, closing out the regular season with 11.

While Rattlers midfielder Victoria Dalziel opened the scoring in the third minute, Nassichuk-Dean followed it up with a natural hat trick, stealing away the lead with goals in the fourth and fifth minutes then adding another in the 23rd.

Taylor Pankiw tacked on with two more to take over a 5-1 lead at the half, then Nassichuk-Dean added two more and Kayla Yeo rounded out the scoring in the second half.

Kassidy Suberlak made 17 saves for Medicine Hat in the loss. Erin Gill stopped three for Red Deer.

The loss followed up Saturday’s setback to the Rustlers, led by a pair of goals from Ashley Miller.

Suberlak stopped eight shots while Lakeland’s Kiera Sunderland turned away 11 to collect the win and push the Rustlers into a tie with Medicine Hat for sixth in the final standings at 2-9-1.

Men’s soccer

The Rattlers men’s soccer team fell victim to a 3-2 comeback at the hands of the Lakeland Rustlers Saturday before closing the book on the ACAC season with a 2-0 loss to the Red Deer Kings Sunday at the Snake Pit.

Colon Pacheco and Matt Wilson gave the Rattlers a commanding 2-0 lead through 60 minutes Saturday, but Troy Trench struck for a trio of late goals to lead Lakeland to a 3-2 comeback victory.

Lakeland keeper Zach Wagner stopped four shots in the victory. Devin Simon stopped three for Medicine Hat.

The Rattlers managed to take a scoreless stalemate into the final 30 minutes of Sunday’s match, but Colin Purnell broke the tie in the 67th minute then Matheus Alves added an insurance marker four minutes later.

The pair of loss leave Medicine Hat fourth in the ACACSouth final standings with a 4-7-1 record.

Women’s basketball

The Rattlers women’s basketball team held off a late push and rallied to a 73-60 victory over the Briercrest Clippers on Saturday at the Snake Pit.

The Clippers bounced back from a slow start to take over a 56-52 lead after three quarters, but the Rattlers dug in their heels and dominated the fourth, 21-4, to secure the win and jump to 3-0 on the ACAC season.

Katelyn Rozdeba led the way with 20 points — including a 10-for-14 showing at the free throw line — and 11 boards, while Kendall Kuntz added 18 points and Kiana Mintz had five steals.

Adrianna Beck had a game-high 22 points for Briercrest, but it wasn’t enough to seal a victory and the Clippers fell to 0-3.

Men’s basketball

The Rattlers men’s basketball squad shared the wealth on Saturday at the Snake Pit.

Eight players posted at least 10 points while five had five or more rebounds in a dominant 105-61 victory over the Briercrest Clippers.

David Simon led the Rattlers with a game-high 16 points while Jaamel Slack and Jon Sappleton each added 14 and Osato Obaseki had 11 points with nine boards to help lift the Rattlers to a 3-0 start to the ACAC season.

Nicholas Gregerson led Briercrest’s offence with 14 points. The Clippers fell to 0-3 with the loss.

Medicine Hat’s basketball squads return to the hardwood Friday in Lethbridge against the Kodiaks.

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