Lions Pull off Comeback Versus Thunder

            The Ambrose Lions looked to carry momentum from their 5-set marathon win against Northwestern Polytechnic into their Friday night matchup. The Lions entered the match 4-4, good for 4th place in the South, whereas the Thunder were sporting a 3-3 record.

            The Thunder jumped out to an early lead in the opening set thanks in part to the play of Wyatt Turnbull and Kyle Robertson. Serving woes would also plague the Lions in the first set and throughout the game. Every time they won a strong rally, they would follow it up with a fault to lose any momentum gained. The Lions managed to claw back to bring the score to a draw, but after tying it 26-26 the Thunder proved their crunch time meddle closing out the first set 28-26.

            That first set was just one of many close sets between the Lions and the Thunder. The second set remained in lockstep for most of it, until Lions star Noah Verhoef found his rhythm serving. Scoring a number of his team leading 19 points while also being a brick wall on defense, Verhoef helped the Lions close out the second set 25-22 to even the set count 1-1.

            Moving into the third set, the trends of play continued. Neither team could score more than 2 points consecutively to gain any sort of lead. Logan Kranrod and Emmet Neuls showed out in the third set to keep it close, with Neuls having a strong enough performance to earn player of the game for his team. But as the set progressed it was Emmit Juul-Hansen's time to shine. When it was finally his turn to serve, he got on a roll to help the Lions pull ahead and finish off the set with an identical 25-22 score.

            Despite dropping two straight sets, the intensity from the Thunder didn't wane. The Lions went ahead early in the set looking to close out the match. But after calling timeout, the Thunder rattled off 5 straight points to get right back into it. As the set neared the end, Verhoef took matters into his own hands for the Lions, smashing two kills and a block to close out the set 25-21 and the match 3-1.

            With the victory the Lions leapfrogged Lethbridge College for first place in the South, however, the Kodiaks have 4 games in hand on the Lions. The Lions will match up next tomorrow night against the 5-1 King's University Eagles at home.