Trojans make good on first night out for Soonias

CALGARY, ALTA., (Oct. 10, 2019) - For his fifth and final Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) home opener, SAIT Trojans men's volleyball player Tyler Latu'ila couldn't have asked for a more efficient victory.

His Trojans needed the bare minimum to beat the Ambrose University Lions in their first game of the season, 3-0 (25-12, 25-21, 25-16), Thursday night at SAIT's Campus Centre.

"We drew a little bit from the crowd tonight," said Latu'ila (5th year, Auckland, New Zealand, Bachelor of Business Administration). "We were nervous and excited to play tonight and (head coach Dallas Soonias) talked to us before the game about keeping that under control and staying at our level."

The Trojans move to 1-0 on the season. More importantly, Latu'ila and his team made sure Soonias got his first ACAC win in his first ACAC contest.

"We're really happy that Dallas came and took over the team," he said about Soonias, who took over after former head coach Sean McKay was hired by the University of Saskatchewan. "It meant a lot to us to be able to win this one for him tonight."

Latu'ila recorded eight kills and four aces on the night, while teammate Jarett Noel (3rd year, Calgary, Geographic Information Systems) added a team-best 10 kills.

Mark Fountain paced the Lions with five kills.

SAIT returns to action next weekend with a home-and-home set against Lethbridge College - Friday night in Lethbridge and Saturday night at home. Both games begin at 8pm.

"This is a totally new team with a new coach," Latu'ila said, looking ahead. "We're nowhere near where we want to be, but I think we have the team to go far this year."