Lions Take Down Broncos in Tight Matchup

The Ambrose Lions took on the Olds College Broncos at home Friday night looking to end their two-game skid. The game was the first of back-to-back games between these teams. The next matchup will be taking place at Olds College at 8pm Saturday Night.

The first set of the evening was marked by a flurry of trades with neither team able to grab any sort of solid lead. The Lions struggled to capitalize on their serves, but solid defensive play from #5 Noah Verhoef and #7 Cole Giesbrecht helped keep the score close. The Broncos drew it to a tie at 24 but errored on the next serve. The subsequent rally would go on for a while until the Broncos took it to stay alive. The Lions responded strong to close out the first set 27-25.

Olds jumped out to an early lead to start the second set as Ambrose continued to struggle on their serves until an ace from #11 Joshua Nickel helped close the gap. Each time either team won a big rally they would follow it up with an error, failing to take hold of any momentum. After another exchange of scores Ambrose clutched up to take the second set 25-23.

Once again, the Broncos put on early pressure and took the lead to start the third set. This time, however, they wouldn't let up. A 12-7 lead forced the Lions to call timeout. The Lions scored out of the timeout, but the Broncos responded swiftly, trading scores back and forth which favored the Broncos as they took the set 25-19.

To start the fourth set the Broncos continued the pattern of taking an early lead going ahead 5-2. Ambrose finally found their groove serving thanks to #9 Emmitt Juul-Hansen to kickstart an 11-5 swing to take the lead and force a Broncos timeout. Olds responded with a run of their own setting up a down to the wire finish. The teams went back and forth but the Lions put away the set 25-23 to cap off the 3-1 victory.

Player of the game awards were a tough decision after such a close matchup. For the Olds College Broncos #4 Haiden Hurtig took it home for leading the Broncos defensively, and for Ambrose player of the game went to #5 Noah Verhoef who led his team with 12 kills. The Broncos will look to get revenge tomorrow night as these teams match up once again, this time in front of their home crowd.