Kings keep Rattlers on their toes entering final weekend
The Medicine Hat College Rattlers men’s volleyball team failed to lock up the Alberta College Athletics Conference South Division’s top seed Saturday at the Snake Pit in a five-set battle with the Red Deer Kings.
The Rattlers had a chance to extend their lead on the ACAC South to six points with the win, which would have clinched the division title with only two games left on the regular season docket. But the Kings had other plans, storming back from a pair of deficits to steal a five-set victory, 2025, 25-22, 21-25, 25-18, 15-13.
“We needed to win one match to make sure we’ve still got the lead on them and we’ve got the tiebreak against them so our chances of staying in first are really good. If we win one next weekend we’re still in first place,” said Rattlers head coach Mark Porter. “We want to make sure that we seal down that first place next weekend.”
Medicine Hat took a fiercely wrought first set from Red Deer thanks to strong efforts from nearly every player who touched the floor. Four players recorded multiple kills in the frame, with Isak HellandHansen leading the way with five, while Joel Kotyk led four Rattlers on the defensive stat sheet with five digs. But the Kings refused to back down and stole away the important victory.
“Today we kind of let them get into the game when we should really bear down and get the easy points,” said Kotyk. “We made more unforced errors than they did.”
Regan Fathers exploded offensively in the second set to lead Red Deer back into the game before pulling the rug out in the fifth set to keep their divisional hopes alive. Fathers finished with a game-high 20 kills.
“He’s a bit of a freak of nature. He’s 6-foot-6, he jumps well, he’s got long arms and he’ll hit over top of most any blocks,” Porter said of Fathers. “We need to set up our defence and execute and hope you can keep him from totally winning the match.”
The Rattlers kept things lively as Helland-Hansen led the offence with 13 kills, while Alfred Dalevik and Kotyk had 12 kills each, and Kotyk added 16 digs.
“It’s always going to be a battle when we come here. They’re very good in their own gym and right now they’re top of the south. It was just a matter of looking after our side,” said Kings head coach Aaron Schula, adding he believe they’ll end up settling for second seed. “We both have fairly quality opponents next weekend so we’ll see what happens, but I don’t think they’ll lose one. I think they’ll be first in the south.”
The crowd was especially boisterous all day long, keeping the volume up with chants, cheers and noisemakers as part of Make Some Noise for Mental Health, an in-game event aimed at promoting mental health awareness.
Medicine Hat’s women’s volleyball team didn’t get the result they were looking for either. One week after snapping a lengthy losing skid, the Rattlers dropped their second straight to the Red Deer Queens in a narrow 25-20, 2826, 29-27 sweep.
Rattlers outside hitter Amber Stigter managed to rack up a match-high 17 kills despite falling in consecutive sets, while setter Kaila Gavel had 29 assists and libero Shaya Suchy had 14 digs.
The Rattlers were ultimately undone by Red Deer’s varied offence, which featured 13 kills from Miranda Dawe and nine from both McKenna Barthel and Megan Schmidt.
The loss drops Medicine Hat to 2-20 on the ACAC season, while the Queens improved to 19-3.
Medicine Hat College’s volleyball teams close out their regular season this Friday and Saturday with a home-andhome against the Lethbridge Kodiaks.
Basketball
The Rattlers men’s basketball team stretched their winning streak to six games Saturday at the Snake Pit with a 68-56 victory over the Lethbridge Kodiaks.
Gui Fuck led the way for Medicine Hat with a doubledouble, posting 16 points and adding 12 rebounds, while Salissou Abdoul Kader put up 15 points and Jordan Wynter added 13 with seven boards.
Rory Russell led Lethbridge’s offence with 12 points despite playing just 25 minutes from the bench.
The victory puts the Rattlers at 14-3 with four games left on the regular season docket. Lethbridge fell to 12-5.
Earlier that evening the Rattlers women’s basketball team fell below .500 with an 8144 loss to Lethbridge.
The Kodiaks are now 17-0 on the season thanks to 27 points from Sunder West and 22 more out of Logan Moncks, while the Rattlers slipped to 8-9 with the lopsided loss.
Medicine Hat’s Kennedy Were put up a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds, while Megan Getz had a team high 17 points with a 3-for-3 effort from outside the arc, but it wasn’t enough to shake their now four-game losing streak.
The Rattlers basketball teams are back in action Friday at the Snake Pit when they host the SAIT Trojans.