Kodiaks split games against SAIT

By Lethbridge Herald on January 9, 2023.

Herald photo by JUSTIN SEWARD Lethbridge College Kodiaks women’s volleyball libero Elyse Doble hits the ball into play for her teammates during Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference action versus the SAIT Trojans at Val Matteotti Gym on Saturday.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

The Lethbridge College Kodiaks volleyball teams opened up the second half of their Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference seasons with a home court split with SAIT on Saturday.

The men’s team won in straight sets (25-23, 25-17, 25-18) over the Trojans to improve to 9-3 on the season.

“It’s always great to come out of a long break and find yourself in the win column,” said head coach Greg Gibos.

“The ACAC South is one of the most competitive divisions in the country and we know that every win is so vital in trying to maintain a playoff position and potential seeding down the road. We had an intense week of preparation. So hopefully it’s a reward for athletes to see their preparations paying off.”

Gibos liked the team’s resiliency early in the match.

“We had a couple of bad breaks go our way and we found ourselves down early in the first set. However, our group truly believed they could make up the early difference, and this confidence is really going to help us grow in future matches.”

As for the women’s team, they lost in five sets (25-27, 25-22, 25-16, 16-25, 15-13) to SAIT.

“Yeah, a little bit of mixed emotions,” said Anna Schwark, women’s head coach.

“I think we did some really great things and I think there was still some really obvious things that we could have been better at. So I think just not quitting was a big win and I think despite having a loss, we still felt like a team. It was really positive; our huddles were really effective and we were always focusing (and)knowing that next play and what comes next and how do we try to side out.”

Schwark thought the passing really lacked.

“We just didn’t pass as good as we needed to,” she said.

“When we’re in system, we’re very effective and we just couldn’t be in system as much as we would have liked to be. So I think that was a big learning lesson.”

The women Kodiaks now have  gone to a fifth set six times this season and now have a record of 3-3 in those games.

“I’m pretty happy this year that we are finding ourselves in so many five-set matches,” said Schwark.

“You know in the past we were getting blown up in three (matches) for the first few years I had the program, and then we started taking some teams to four, taking them to five and maybe not winning. And now we’re making it to the fifth set and have that potential of winning. So even though it’s frustrating and I know the girls are tired … I think it just shows it’s a testament to the hard work they put in outside of the gym and in the fitness centre.”

The women’s record fell to 7-5 with the loss.

Both teams will now prepare to host Keyano College and Lakeland College this weekend.