The Olds College Broncos women's volleyball team earned two more victories in Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference play on the weekend, beating the Lakeland College Rustlers in four sets in two matches in Olds on January 24 and 25.
On Jan. 25 at the Ralph Klein Centre, the Broncos dropped their first set 25-22 before rebounding and taking the next three sets 25-19, 25-20, 25-13. The previous night, the Rustlers again got the jump on the home team, taking the first set 25-22, before the Broncos responded with 25-19, 25-20, 25-13 set victories. The Broncos now have a 9-7 match record on the season.
Jamie Craig, a second-year setter who was named player of the match for the Broncos on Jan. 25, said coming off previous losses, the team wanted to communicate on the court and put in a better effort.
ìComing back from that was hard but it also shows us that (we should) just push through it, keep going forward,î she said. ìI think we proved ourselves after coming back from those losses. I think we're definitely a provincial team, we just have to put the work in.î
Head coach Chris Wandler said the players have been concentrating in the last few matches on executing the fundamentals of the game and not worrying about what the other team is doing.
ì(In) women's volleyball, it's made of good plays for long durations of time, so we've been focusing on ourselves and being consistent,î he said, adding that defence was crucial. ìThe defensive component is so important so you're able to get a good ball that you're able to transition and I thought Shael (Bourne) did a really good job with that, with assistance of her wing diggers,î he said.
During the match on Jan. 24, Wandler said the team served well and played good defence.
ìWe were able to put Lakeland in some uncomfortable positions and they didn't do themselves any good by hitting balls out of bounds, but you have to put the ball in the court and we did that,î Wandler said.
Meanwhile, the Broncos men had a difficult weekend, losing in straight sets each night. The men lost 25-22, 25-14, 22-25 and 25-19 on Jan. 24 and were bounced in straight sets the next night 28-26, 25-21 and 25-19. The player of the match for the Broncos on Jan. 25, Damon Holmen, said the players gave it their best, but too many errors cost the team. The men's team is winless in 16 matches this season.
ìThe guys didn't really quit the whole game, that was great to see,î he said.
Holmen, who played his last match in Olds on Jan. 25, will be finishing his business diploma at the end of the semester before transferring to an as-yet undetermined Canadian Inter-University Sport institution for the 2014-15 school year. The Broncos will be on the road for their remaining two matches of the season in Caronport, Sask., against the Briercrest Clippers.
While Holmen said the season has been a rough one, each member of the team is using it as a learning experience.
ìThe losing night after night, it definitely takes a toll on guys, but eventually we just kind of realized that enough was enough and we were tired of being upset about losing and every time we get knocked down we just get right back up and keep trying,î he said.
