Rattlers women’s volleyball team back to .500 mark

By Medicine Hat News on November 25, 2019.

The Medicine Hat Rattlers women’s volleyball team closed the book on their first semester by defeating the Olds Broncos in straight sets (26-24, 25-22, 25-22) to complete a two-game sweep on the road Saturday.

The win moves Medicine Hat to an even 6-6 on the Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference season – two points behind the Ambrose Lions for third in the South Division and four back of the Red Deer Queens for second. The Broncos slipped to 2-8 with the setback.

Amber Stigter powered the Rattlers to victory with an 11-kill performance. Brooke Christie added 10 kills of her own, while Janessa Oelke set up 33 and Shaya Suchy logged 25 digs on defence.

Tabitha Martin and Janeen Pellatt shared Olds’ team-high of seven kills, while Avery Gammel had 17 assists and Francesca Sandini dug out 28.

Men’s volleyball

The Medicine Hat Rattlers men’s volleyball squad had a two-game winning streak snapped with a five-set loss to the Broncos (20-25, 22-25, 25-23, 33-31, 16-14) on Saturday at Olds College.

After dropping the first two sets of the match, the Broncos rallied all the way back to steal the victory thanks to 17 kills from Thundersky Walkingbear, 40 assists from Thomas Pugsley and 23 digs out of Jesse Stoddart.

KeAndre Evans fueled Medicine Hat with a staggering 22 kills in the match, while Nikola Sreckovic set up 42 and Aleksa Zivic dug out 15, but it wasn’t enough to keep the winning streak alive.

The Rattlers fell to 3-9 with the loss, while Olds improved to 3-7.

Medicine Hat now sits six points behind the Briercrest Clippers for fourth in the ACAC South.