NEWS PHOTO SEAN ROONEY Shaya Suchy (left) receives a serve while teammate Amber Stigter looks on during an Alberta College Athletic Conference women's volleyball quarter-final match Thursday at the Snake Pit.
There were plenty of proud smiles as the host Medicine Hat College women’s volleyball team finished up an opening-round loss at conference championships Thursday, but Shaya Suchy’s true emotions weren’t far from the surface.
The fifth-year Rattlers libero had red eyes and kept her composure during the post-game, but with her first-ever taste of playoffs coming on the last weekend of her college career, it was obvious she wanted a win.
“It’s a little tough,” admitted the Guernsey, Sask. native. “We’re still going to go for that fifth spot.
“The crowd, that first serve, our first point was crazy. You could feel it.”
Pushed by a capacity crowd in the Snake Pit, the underdog Rattlers had leads in each of the first two sets but ultimately fell 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-15) to Augustana’s Vikings, the top seed from the North Division.
“We gave a very talented team a good run for their money,” said Hat coach Kim Stonehouse. “We made them earn it, especially in the first two sets. I can’t be prouder of the girls.”
There were no upsets on opening day, but the real surprise was the fact no match needed more than the minimum three sets. Red Deer closed out the night with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-16) win over Lakeland and will meet Augustana in an 8 p.m. semifinal tonight.
The other semifinal is a rematch of last year’s championship game, with The King’s University and Briercrest College battling in a 6 p.m. matchup.
King’s, the North Division’s second seed, swept Ambrose 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-21) while top South seed Briercrest won handily, 3-0 (25-9, 25-20, 25-21) over NAIT.
After NAIT plays Ambrose at 1 p.m., Medicine Hat will play Lakeland, a program that’s a regular at these championships, at 3 p.m. on the consolation side.
“Go for it, there’s nothing to lose,” said Suchy, who officially has two games left as only Saturday’s finalists will qualify for nationals in Quebec. “They’re both really good teams, and I think we can play with them. We’ve just got to put it all together.”
The Rattlers hadn’t really played a meaningful game all season by virtue of having the host bid, then struggling due to injuries and illnesses in the second semester. They weren’t close enough to challenge for a higher seed, and faced an Augustana team that had battled the past two months to edge out King’s and Lakeland for first in the North.
“The thing about playoffs is you only know how to play in playoffs when you’re in playoffs,” said Stonehouse, whose Rattlers hadn’t been in the post-season in her six years on the job. “So these teams have been there before and this is our first time, and I think we did a very good job in our first crack.”
Suchy, the all-time Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference career digs leader, had 10 Thursday. Dryden Gris led Medicine Hat with eight kills and three blocks.
Shae Boyes had nine kills and two blocks for Augustana, which admittedly took a bit to get going.
“We were warned it was going to be crazy, and it was,” said Vikings third-year libero Danielle Brockman. “This gym, the sound echoes. We had to make our own energy out of it and we did.”
“To be honest we came out a little bit nervous,” added coach Stephen Enright. “But we persevered, stuck to what we know, our block and serve game finally came around. At the end it was just a little bit too much I think for Medicine Hat today.”
In Red Deer’s win over Lakeland, setter Emma Letkeman had two key aces to go along with 16 digs and 29 assists. Emma Holmes also had a big game with 11 kills and 13 digs.
Jenay Varga led the Rustlers with nine kills.
In the day’s second matchup, the Briercrest Clippers actually trailed the NAIT Ooks in each of the final two sets but seemed to turn a switch at the midway point of each game.
“It was so fun, I think everybody had a mindset switch and it was game on from that point,” said Briercrest’s Becky Garner, who tied teammate Reece Harder with 11 kills and added nine digs, two blocks and two aces. “They did a really great job serving efficiently and hard at us, really good credit to them for that. I think we dialled in on our serve-receive passing, our mindset shift was huge.”
NAIT couldn’t get much going outside of serves, registering one team block to Briercrest’s 11. Victoria Ringuette had eight kills.
The tournament opener saw King’s left side Anna Pattison put up a huge game with 13 kills and 17 digs, her team trailing early in the first set but finding its groove thereafter.
Julia Kemper had 12 kills and 27 digs for the scrappy Lions, who play NAIT in a 1 p.m. consolation side match today.
King’s got all the way to the national final last year while Briercrest finished fourth. Only one will return to the tournament this year.
“We played them in the final last year so excited to play them again,” said Garner, who knows all about the pressure of the all-important semifinal round. “Last year our semifinal was crazy, we won in the fifth set.
“We’re just looking forward to coming out, playing the same way we did tonight, just confident, excited to be on the court.”
