Lions Bounce Back in SAIT Rematch

            The Ambrose Lions faced off in a re-match against the SAIT Trojans after losing in 5 sets last night. Unhappy with their sub-par showing against the then 1-5 Trojans, the Lions were really looking for a win in their final match of 2022.

            Sloppy play hurt the Lions early, going down 7-11 before they started to turn it around. #15 Nikita Marchenkov picked up 4 kills on the Lions first 11 points to bring the score even. The teams traded scores back and forth eventually leading to a Trojans' timeout down 19-20. After Clawing back to a tie at 23-23 the Trojans forced Ambrose to use their first timeout after faulting on a serve. Despite being down 20-23, the Trojans closed out the first set with 5 straight points to take a 1-0 lead.

            Going into the second set, the Lions jumped out to an early 6-2 lead leading to an early SAIT timeout. The Lions continued to pour on the pressure, growing the lead 18-8 thanks to 7 digs each from Noah Verhoef and Emmitt Juul-Hansen. The Lions kept their foot on the gas, closing out the second set with a dominant 25-14 score line.

            Ambrose came on strong to start the third set taking a 9-4 lead. An ace from Juul-Hansen grew the lead to 11-5 and the Lions were able to hold on to the momentum from there. The Trojans used their second timeout down 11-18 to try and get themselves going again. The Lions shut down their comeback attempt, and Matthew Clements scored his first kill of the game to take the set for Ambrose 25-16.

            Ambrose was looking to avoid going to a fifth set for the second straight game jumping out to a 7-3 lead The Lions grew their lead to 13-6 on Marchenkov's 16^th kill of the match. The Trojans weren't out of it yet, going on a run to close the gap to 13-15 leading to a Lions timeout. The Lions responded, taking a commanding 22-15 lead looking to close out the game. Matthew Clements again scored a kill on match point to close out the set and win the match 3-1 for the Lions.

            Player of the game winners for the match were Nikita Marchenkov for the Lions after putting up 16 kills and 10 digs. For the Trojans, Libero Dominic Soucie earned the honors. The Lions will be glad to go into the break on a high note. They won't be back in action until January when they take on the 5-5 Lakeland College Rustlers.