Kodiaks volleyball starts season on the road

The Lethbridge College Kodiaks men’s and women’s volleyball teams are ready to serve up another season.

The Kodiaks begin their 201819 Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference season on the road as the team heads to Red Deer to take on the Kings and Queens tonight and Saturday afternoon.

Last season, the both Kodiaks teams made the ACAC playoffs in the same year for the first time in 13 years.

Both teams look to not only get back to the post-season dance, but place even higher.

The Kodiaks men’s team advanced to the ACAC semifinals for the first time in program history before winding up fourth in the conference.

Returning to the team this year is fifth-year veteran Dax Whitehead and fourth-year Carter Hansen.

Last year, Whitehead became the Kodiaks all-time leader in kills and enters the season only 169 away from the ACAC record.

Hansen led the conference in kills last season with 332 and is primed to move into second on the all-time Kodiaks list this season.

The Kodiaks women went 1410 last season, eight wins better than in 2016-17 and return a healthy portion of last year’s roster.

The team loses Kristine Ward, who was in the top-10 of a number of ACAC statistical categories, Laura Serafini returns for her fifth year at middle, while second-year Jamie Brown moves to setter.

This weekend’s road games will provide solid tests for both Kodiaks teams.

The Kings have won four of the last six ACAC championships and host this year’s Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association national championship.

The Queens women’s team is the defending ACAC bronze medalist.

Tonight’s women’s game begins at 6 p.m. with the men to follow at 8 p.m.

On Saturday, the women kick things off at 1 p.m. and the men play at 3 p.m.

Games can be streamed live on ACAC-TV.

The Kodiaks host their homeopener next Friday when they take on the SAIT Trojans at the Val Matteotti Gymnasium.