The Kodiak men’s volleyball team claimed two victories over the weekend despite struggles in both matches.
The Kodiak men were able to breeze through the first two sets in Saturday’s match, but hit a bump in the third when they lost some momentum with a close 28–26 set loss. The Kodiaks ended up losing the fourth set as well, but managed to regain their focus in time to claim the final set and the game with a 17–15 score.
“We made a lot of good defensive plays in the fifth set here,” says Jeff Marthaller, Saturday’s player of the game. “(We) kept a lot of balls going, (it was) pretty scramblie at times, but they got a really good team over there so it was good to see we could come through.” Marthaller led the Kodiaks with 14 kills and five digs Saturday, while Hartman Chu finished with 12 kills, despite getting hit in the eye accidentally during the game.
Head coach Ian Bennett felt his team played an improved game compared to the one they played 24 hours prior. “We played much better than yesterday, but we still did not play to our potential – start to finish. I think the guys felt the game was in hand,” says Bennett. “We let up a little bit, and it almost cost us. It’s a good lesson to learn.” Bennett added that the Kodiaks had beaten the Clippers to the first 15 points in eight out of their last nine sets played. Friday’s game saw the Kodiaks battling set for set with the Clippers.
The Kodiaks won the first set of the match, while the Clippers won the second.
From there it would go back and forth until the end, as the Kodiaks would claim the fifth set claiming a 3 – 2 match victory. Andy Rentz was the Kodiaks player of the game Friday with his 10-dig performance. “We played as a team. We focused on point for point, not the whole game,” says Rentz. “Everybody’s been practising really well, I think that’s been helping, and everybody on and off the court is pushing each other. And that’s a big team effort; it’s not just one team player.”
The Kodiaks’ next games will be a home and home affair starting on Friday, Jan. 28 at the Val Matteotti gym against the Medicine Hat Rattlers. The Kodiaks will then travel to Medicine Hat on Saturday.