Kodiaks earn clean sweep over Olds

By Lethbridge Herald on February 10, 2026.

Nathan Reiter

Lethbridge Herald

The Lethbridge Polytechnic Kodiaks had a very successful weekend on the volleyball court.

Both the men’s and women’s volleyball teams earned sweeps over the Olds Broncos at the Val Matteoti Gymnasium.

The women won in four sets (23-25, 25-17, 25-17, 25-13) on Friday to earn their first win of the season on home court. Lethbridge pulled out Saturday’s contest in four sets (25-16, 19-25, 25-17, 26-24) including a five point comeback in the fourth set to prevent the game from going to a winner-take-all fifth set.

Kodiak head coach Anna Schwark says she was proud of the resilience shown by Lethbridge.

“We knew that we were really going to have to eliminate errors. This team is super tough to score on and I think like this weekend they showed that. It’s easy to get frustrated when you’re just staying aggressive on third contacts and still not getting the outcome you want. We just did a really good job at pushing through the mental hurdles, showing resilience and emotional maturity. We’ve never been able to execute in the red zone like we did today, especially with the deficit. That was a big first for us and it makes me really excited for the long game that we’re playing and I think the girls are just continuing to realize what they’re capable of.”

With the wins, Lethbridge improves to 3-12 on the season. The Kodiaks lone win prior to the weekend was a forfeit from Lakeland College as a result of ACAC sanctions following a hazing incident.  The 2025-26 season has been one of growth and development for the Kodiaks with one of the youngest rosters in the ACAC. 

Lethbridge will play Medicine Hat in a home-and-home set next weekend. The Rattlers sit below the Kodiaks in the ACAC south standings with a 2-15 record.

Schwark says the Kodiaks will look to build upon their strongest weekend of the season going into Medicine Hat.

“I think along with continuing to train hard and just work on skill development and our athleticism, we’re really trying to delve deep into mental training too. Overnight after (Friday) night, we were being really accountable to journaling, visualization and watching game film and just learning as much as we can in our heads. That’s going to be a big part because I think Med Hat could be pretty similar to this. They can be super scrappy on defense at times. I’d like us to come out. I think if we can come out with the same fire, energy and just resiliency and that never quit attitude that we could potentially get a really good split or a sweep next weekend.”

On the men’s side, the Kodiaks knocked off Olds in four sets on Friday (22-25, 25-16, 25-20, 25-13). Lethbridge would go up two sets to none on Saturday and hold off a Bronco comeback attempt to win in five sets (25-21, 25-18, 28-26, 25-23, 17-15).

Kodiak head coach Greg Gibos says Lethbridge needed to come up big in clutch moments.

“We’re really really good for about 90% and then we’re just having a little bit of a hard time finishing some matches or some sets. I think it’s been a bit of a microcosm of what we’ve kind of experienced. If you were to break down those Briercrest losses, they’re very similar but the good thing is we’re seeing lots of growth. These are good moments. It’s a blessing and a curse sometimes to get into a match like we did on Saturday but we got to play through some pretty dark emotions and some pressure. I think that the whole goal of the regular season is to face that adversity and face those big moments and in hopes to prep us for the gauntlet of ACAC championships.”

With the pair of wins over the weekend, you can officially count the Kodiaks into the ACAC men’s volleyball championship later this month in Red Deer. 

“It’s the goal of every season. We’ve seen teams ranked fourth in the (ACAC) south win a national championship.” Gibos said. “A lot of the time it just takes getting in there and getting hot at the right time, so it’s always the goal. I look at all the teams and how many good, solid groups aren’t in the playoffs again this year. The ACAC is the hardest conference for men’s volleyball. There’s probably an 80% chance that the team that wins ACAC wins the national championship every year. It’s just a good league and it takes a lot of hard work and dedication from our athletes. We’re pretty grateful that we got the opportunity to go compete for a banner again here in a couple of weeks in Red Deer.”

On the basketball court, both Kodiak teams earned two victories on the road against Olds. The women knocked off the Broncos 63-42 on Friday before a 59-55 triumph on Saturday. 

In Friday’s game, Summer Long paced the Kodiaks with 13 points while Nyomi Heins (10) and Chase Wells-Creighton (10) were the other double digit scorers.

Four different Kodiaks had double digit points on Saturday with Long (18), Heins (11), Gaby Power (13) and Wells-Creighton (10).

The Kodiak men started the weekend with a 93-87 win on Friday. Levi Balderson and Jackson Wright each had 23 points for Lethbridge. Nathaniel Hosannah (13), Randall Mongard (13) and Marley Kenion (14) were the other double digits scorers for the Kodiaks.

Balderson paced the Kodiaks with 30 points in a 96-75 win on Saturday. Hosannah (16), Wright (12) and Kenion (15) were the other Lethbridge players to reach double digits. 

Both Kodiak court sports are in a home-and-home weekend set with Medicine Hat College next weekend. Basketball will take place in Lethbridge on Friday night, while the volleyball teams will take over the Val Matteotti Gymnasium on Saturday.