Suchy digs it
By Sean Rooney on November 17, 2018.
srooney@medicinehatnews.com @MHNRooney Shaya Suchy was speechless. On a night her Medicine Hat College Rattlers faced the No. 3-ranked women’s volleyball team in the country, the fourth-year libero was to be told post-game that she’d broken a Rattlers record for most career digs. Surely, the 5-3 Hat team wouldn’t stand a chance against the 8-0 Briercrest Clippers, who had lost only three sets all season. But there was Suchy post-game, having delivered a ridiculous 28 digs to push her career total to 849, trying to explain how it felt in light of an astounding 3-2 (19-25, 18-25, 25-19, 25-23, 15-13) win at the Snake Pit. “It was crazy. I’ve never felt something quite like that,” said Suchy. “Winning that game, then having that happen…” Nobody saw this one coming. Heck, Suchy didn’t even know she’d broken Megan Nagy’s record a week ago. But it was the win that had fans on their feet long before the balloons and comemorative plaque were brought out. “I had a good feeling,” said Rattlers coach Kim Stonehouse, whose side lost starting setter Jennifer Saj to injury in the first set. “When we get into our groove, we’re pretty much unstoppable. We’ve got a lot of offensive options, we don’t have to rely on one player. Shaya had an outstanding game, it was a good solid team effort.” Instead of Saj’s injury shrinking their confidence, the Rattlers managed to do the opposite — play like they had nothing else to lose. They took the third set and then a 7-1 lead to start the fourth. The momentum kept carrying on in a tight fifth, fans rising from their seats on match point. Second-year setter Janessa Oelke took over, Janelle Neyron had 16 kills and fellow rookie Mckenzie Griffith seven blocks in the come-from-behind barnburner. “They played really well,” said Clippers coach Nolan Weinmaster. “We definitely gave them momentum in the third set, we played in a way that we created momentum for them with lots of errors. They took advantage of that and played great the rest of the way.” The teams match up again at 1 p.m. Saturday, and there’s no doubt Briercrest will be motivated. But even then, the bible school’s athletes brought in the Rattlers for a prayer circle post-game in which they prayed for Saj’s knee to be healed. Suchy came to the Gas City four years ago from Saskatchewan and has been a mainstay in the back row through thick and thin. The team finally looks to be on a sustained upswing, punctuated by Friday’s win. “One little spark can ignite a whole team,” she said. “I think that’s what happened, just one good thing, it just kept building. Every bad point, we’d make up for it with something. We knew we needed it.” Nagy, who had the record previously, is now a world-class beach volleyball player for Canada. Now living in Ontario, she told the News by email she was glad to hear one of her records had been broken. “I am STOKED for her that she broke the record,” wrote Nagy. “It’s great to see people pushing the limits of the sport. I know how much dedication would have gone in to developing her game.” Men’s volleyball In the late men’s game, Medicine Hat overcame a slow start for a 3-1 (25-22, 25-21, 20-25, 25-19)win over Briercrest. No statistics were available by press time. The Rattlers improved to 6-3 while the Clippers fell to 3-6. The teams play again at 3 p.m. Saturday. Women’s basketball The Rattlers women’s basketball team had their way with the Ambrose Lions in Calgary Friday, winning 88-65. Kendell Kuntz had 25 points, Katelyn Rozdeba had 15 plus nine rebounds and all but one Hat player had a bucket. Now 6-1, they play 2-5 Ambrose again Saturday. Men’s basketball Something clicked for the men’s basketball team Friday. At Calgary’s Ambrose University, the Rattlers trailed by 10 points at the half before finding their range in a 90-79 win. Jaamel Slack, back with Medicine Hat after a year off, scored 26 points including four three-pointers. Jon Sappleton had 18 plus 11 rebounds and six assists, with 10 of those points coming in the turnaround third quarter. 29
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