OLDS — From this point forward, it’s do or die for the Olds College Broncos men’s volleyball team.
After a strong second half of the season, the Broncos have earned the right to host an ACAC championship play-in game, as they will welcome the SAIT Trojans to the Ralph Klein Centre on today at 7 p.m., with the winner travelling to Fort McMurray for next week’s ACAC Men’s Volleyball Championship, hosted by Keyano College.
The Broncos rebounded from an 0-3 start to the season to finish 11-8 to climb to the third seed in the ACAC South, including a thrilling five-set win over the Red Deer Polytechnic Kings on Feb. 4 that got them into the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association’s national rankings for the first time this season at number 15 last week.
The Broncos have showcased a balanced attack throughout the season, with Aidyn Phillips, Matheus Franca, Reed Grusing and Phillip Sutherland all eclipsing 100 kills over the campaign, while setter Thomas Pugsley posted 461 total assists for the season in splitting duties with rookie Sean Vanderzee.
Defensively, the Broncos are led by Sutherland and captain Jesse Stoddart, one of three fifth-year graduates the Broncos recognized on Friday along with outside hitter Haiden Hurtig and middle Braden Bates. Stoddart led the Broncos with 166 digs this season to finish second in the ACAC, while Sutherland’s 40 solo blocks were good for third in the ACAC, and most among all ACAC South middles.
The Broncos won both matchups with the Trojans in straight sets in January, and SAIT comes into the matchup having lost 11 of its last 12 matches. On the attack, Filip Florek has been the primary weapon for the Trojans with 125 kills and 37 blocks to his name this season, while Ryan Zachary provides a nice complementary piece with 112 kills of his own.
Jackson Pelechaty serves as the primary setter with 384 assists to go with 73 digs, while Dominic Soucie led the defensive charge with 121 digs.
Geordie Carragher is Olds College's sports Information and Esports coordinator.
