Kodiaks basketball sweeps, men’s volleyball team splits

By Dale Woodard on January 25, 2022.

The Lethbridge College Kodiaks men’s and women’s basketball teams are enjoying the view from atop the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference South Division.

Meanwhile, the Kodiaks men’s volleyball team handed the Briercrest Clippers their first loss of the season before settling for a split.

Hosting the Clippers at the Val Matteotti Gymnasium, the Kodiaks men’s basketball team posted an 80-55 win Friday night and tacked on an 89-59 decision Saturday.

The sweep improves the Kodiaks to 7-2 and puts them in a tie with the St. Mary’s Lightning (7-1) and the SAIT Trojans (7-2) for first place in the South.

On the women’s side, the Kodiaks earned an 88-67 win Friday night and followed that up with a 66-54 decision Saturday.

The win moves the Kodiaks’ win streak to seven games and puts them atop the South Division at 8-1, two up on the 7-2 Lightning.

In the men’s game Saturday, Jack-Henry Fox-Grey led the Kodiaks with 19 points, while Orin Porter hit for 18, Chris Schlauwitz added 16 and Paycen Blackmore had 10.

On Friday, Porter led the way with 16 points and Henry Fox-Grey bucketed 10 and grabbed eight rebounds.

Blackmore also hit double digits with 10 points.

In the women’s game Saturday afternoon, Kirsten Barwegen paced Lethbridge with 20 points, 13 rebounds and five assists for the double-double. She also had five steals.

Courtney Deemter scored 18 points for the Kodiaks and Matlin Jacobs contributed with 17 points and five assists.

Barwegen and Deemter led the way for the Kodiaks Friday night with 26 and 16 points, respectively.

Barwegen also had nine rebounds and five steals and Deemter grabbed seven steals.

The Kodiaks are back in action this weekend with a home-and-home series with the Ambrose Lions.

The Kodiaks start on the road Friday night before coming back to the Val Matteotti Gymnasium Saturday night.

The women’s game is at 6 p.m. with the men to follow at 8 p.m.

The Kodiaks volleyball team headed to Caronport, Sask. to take on the Clippers, handing Briercrest (7-1) their first loss of the season with a 3-1 win (22-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-16) as Jackson Gaehring hammered 13 kills and Nolan Moes added nine.

But Lethbridge couldn’t close out the sweep in the rematch Saturday afternoon, falling in five sets to the Clippers (18-25, 25-19, 22-25, 18-25, 7-15).

The Kodiaks women’s volleyball games against Briercrest were postponed due to COVID-19 concerns on the Clippers.

Moes put up 15 kills, 13 digs and six service aces in the loss.

Michael Kindley added nine kills and 12 digs, while Liam Frost had 10 digs.

The split puts the Kodiaks at 5-3 in fourth place in the South Division, two back of the third-place SAIT Trojans (6-4).

The Kodiaks are at the Val Matteotti Gymnasium Thursday night when they host the SAIT Trojans at 7 p.m.

Both Kodiaks volleyball teams are back home Friday night when the Ambrose Lions come to town.

The women’s game is at 6 p.m. with the men to follow at 8 p.m.

Ambrose hosts the Kodiaks on Saturday.

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