Kodiak men serve up two more ‘W’s

The Lethbridge College Kodiaks men’s volleyball team just clawed their way into the race for second in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference South Division.

The Kodiaks got it done on home court last weekend, downing the Briercrest Clippers 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-18, 25-15) Saturday afternoon at the Val Matteotti Gymnasium to improve to 13-7 on the season and close some ground on Briercrest in the standings.

The win comes after a 3-0 blanking of the Clippers Friday as the Kodiaks move two points behind the second-place Clippers (14-8).

It also puts the Kodiaks in a tie for third place with the Medicine Hat Rattlers (13-9) in the south with two games in hand.

On the women’s side, the Kodiaks were downed 3-0 by the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association fifth-ranked Clippers Saturday afternoon after forcing Briercrest to a fifth set Friday night before falling 3-2.

The losses put the Kodiaks at 10-10 and in sole possession of fourth place in the South, six points back of the Ambrose Lions (13-7), but four points ahead of the 8-14 SAIT Trojans.

In the men’s game Saturday, the teams each took a set before the Kodiaks regrouped after a second set loss with 2518 and 25-15 wins.

Carter Hansen hammered 19 kills and Dax Whitehead was one behind with 18.

Five Kodiaks finished in double digits in digs, led by Zach Wikenheiser and Whitehead with 14.

Hansen added 11 kills and Matt Primrose and Tony Albizzati had 10 each.

Wikenheiser chipped in with two service aces.

In the women’s game, Laura Serafini had 10 kills and Kristine Ward added nine, but the Clippers posted 28-26, 25-20 and 25-18 set wins to improve to an ACAC-best 21-1.

Ward put up 14 digs and Jamie Brown had two blocked shots.

The Kodiaks return to action this weekend in a home-and-home series with the Trojans.

Lethbridge hosts the Friday night match at the Val Matteotti Gymnasium with the women’s game at 6 p.m. and the men at 8 p.m. The second game of the weekend series is in Calgary Saturday.

The SAIT men’s team leads the South Division at 19-3.