St. Mary’s University College
Department of Athletics and Recreation
Athletics Update: October 12 2010
Lightning Athletics continues to roll on with another weekend of great league and exhibition action.
Women’s Volleyball: Head Coach - Barry Yee (stmu.wvb@gmail.com)
ACAL Regular Season Match vs. Olds College - October 8 2010 - Current ACAL Record 2-0
The STMU women's volleyball team played an important match this past Friday against ACAL rival Olds College. The ladies came into this game knowing that this would be an important benchmark to see how far the team has come and where it needs to be in order to compete for the championship.
The Olds team had done a lot of recruiting over the past year, ensuring this would be a hard match against an good team. The team again struggled with serving at the beginning missing 5 serves and having to come from behind in the 1st set. The team came really close to reversing the sluggish start, but eventually lost the 1st set 24-26.
The team capitalized on momentum from the 1st set and played with much more confidence moving into the 2nd set. With excellent hitting and blocking that they were able to win the next three sets and the match, sending a clear message that the road to the ACAL title this year must go through St. Mary’s!
The match sets went: 24-26, 25-23, 25-18 and 26-24. Special recognition goes to Candice Duckett who had a breakout game, ranking in the top 3 in serving, passing, blocking and digging on the team.
Both volleyball teams are back in action in this Friday in Three Hills, where they will take on Prairie Bible Institute in week 3 of ACAL play.
Men’s Volleyball: Head Coach - Jeff Varga (stmu.mvb@gmail.com)
ACAL Regular Season Match vs. Olds College - October 8 2010 - Current ACAL Record 0-2
Congratulations to the Mens' Volleyball team for the great effort in the match against Olds friday night at Rally Pointe. With only 7 players, they managed to get into the heads of the Olds players and put up a great effort. After watching the Women's team win a great match, the Men took the court with a great deal of intensity and energy.
By surpassing their goals for the night, they managed a valiant but losing effort. By achieving their highest point totals of the year, the team has shown that it will not be a pushover in ACAL play. The three sets went: 25-13, 25-14, 25-15.
The team has improved exponentially as the season progresses and they are looking forward to even more improvements as they get ready to face their next opponent this Friday, when they play Prairie Bible Institute. A great thanks also goes out to the Basketball & Volleyball teams for staying to cheer the team on.
Both volleyball teams are back in action in this Friday in Three Hills, where they will take on Prairie Bible Institute in week 3 of ACAL play.
Women’s Basketball: Head Coach - Randy Peron (stmu.wbb@gmail.com)
ACAC Preseason Tournament at MRU: Games vs. Medicine Hat College / Lethbridge College/ SAIT
Women’s basketball continued their preseason preparation by playing in their 2nd exhibition ACAC Tournament this past weekend. The team set out to improve on their previous performances while focusing on some specific aspects of their overall game with 3 matches vs. strong ACAC Teams.
Struggling in the first game vs. Medicine Hat College, the team tried to compete against an athletic, well-coached opponent. After a difficult first three quarters, the ladies seemed to find their rhythm towards the end of the 4th quarter, and finished strong with improved play and better execution. Player of the game went to Lindsay MacWilliam for the Lightning.
Wanting to carry that over into their second match of the weekend, the women prepared to go up against against Lethbridge College. Playing their best team game of the season the team competed hard throughout the contest and with intense team play on both ends of the court battled the Kodiaks for the entire match. Finishing the game with both better defense and more fluid execution of the offense, the women proved to themselves that they can play hard and compete with ACAC teams. Player of the game went to Kaitlin Harding, who showed leadership skills and poise on the court throughout the contest.
Their final game was a re-match vs. the SAIT Trojans. The women even competed as hard as they could despite having a short bench due to injuries. The players stuck together throughout the contest playing with only 6 players in the 2nd half. Player of the game went to Jorja Flagel who played very well against some very strong players from SAIT.
Results for the weekend:
103-32 vs. Medicine Hat / 86-39 vs. Lethbridge / 105-19 vs. SAIT
Preseason work continues this week with a scrimmage against Lethbridge College here in Calgary. The game goes Friday evening at 6pm at Rundle Academy.
Men’s Basketball: Head Coach - David Petroziello (stmu.mbb@gmail.com)
The men’s basketball team enjoyed a rare weekend off, spending the free time visiting with friends and family for Thanksgiving. The team also went out to support the volleyball teams on Friday at Rally Pointe and brought a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the games.
The team was back at training Tuesday morning with a 7am conditioning session to work off the turkey and pie from the weekend. They get back to the practice floor Tuesday night in preparation for their upcoming tournament in Lethbridge.
Preseason continues October 15-16 for men’s basketball in the Lethbridge College tournament, where they will face three strong ACAC programs in Lethbridge College, Concordia University College, and Medicine Hat College.
Lightning Athletes of the Week
October 12 2010
Female Athlete of the Week: Laura Waters
The Female Athlete of the Week goes to Laura Waters of Women’s Volleyball. Laura is the captain of the varsity volleyball team, and showed why last Friday vs. Olds. Laura has played amazing the last 2 weeks and ranked top of the team for kills and defense vs. Olds. Despite battling a bad cold and coughing a lot during timeouts, Laura was encouraging her teammates and displayed great leadership and perseverance. Off the court Laura has also been inspirational to the younger athletes and has encouraged them to play hard by her advice and her hard work on the court.
Congratulations Laura!
Male Athlete of the Week: Chris Sheran
The Male Athlete of the Week goes to Chris Sheran of Men’s Volleyball. Leading the team to its best performance of the year, Chris put his athleticism on display by diving all over the court and playing with hunger and desire. He led the team in blocks at the net and led the team to never quitting against a very good Olds team.
Congratulations Chris!
For more information on Lightning Athletics please contact the Department of Athletics at 403-254-3728.
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