Trojans close out sweep of Clippers

CALGARY, ALTA., (Jan. 11, 2020) - The SAIT Trojans men's volleyball team packed a lot of excitement into three sets.

The Trojans capped off their weekend with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 32-30) victory over the visiting Briercrest College Clippers Saturday afternoon in their Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) contest played at SAIT's Campus Centre.

"Last night's (3-2 win) we were very inconsistent. Sets we won, we won by a lot. Sets we lost, we lost by a lot. Today, we just handled our emotions better and it showed," said Trojans veteran Tyler Latu'ila (5th year, Auckland, New Zealand, Bachelor of Business Administration), who finished the game off with his seventh kill of the match. "In the first semester, we were terrible on Saturdays so today was a real test to see how we would react."

SAIT remains atop the ACAC's South Division with a 12-4 mark. Briercrest falls to 8-6.

The turning point in the match came when SAIT was able to beat the Clippers in the second set. On Friday, the teams traded set wins before the Trojans eventually won in five. 

On Saturday, however, the Trojans won Set 1 and followed it up with a win in Set 2 to take a stranglehold on the match and hold back any momentum the Clippers may have gained.

"We had such a big lead in that set that we were able to get some of the bench guys in and give the other guys a rest, which was a nice luxury to have today," Latu'ila stated.

In the final set, the Clippers were intent on extending the match. The teams traded points all set long in an action-packed set with the biggest lead either side could muster was two points. 

"It's been a main focus of ours to be more competitive, and get used to those situations and learn to love those situations and adversity," explained Latu'ila. "It was nice that we could finally prove we can thrive in those conditions."

For the second straight game, Riley Grusing (3rd year, Calgary, Civil Engineering Technology) led the Trojans. He recorded a team-high 17 kills to go along with five digs and a block.

Teammate Maddux Greves (2nd year, Calgary, Bachelor of Business Administration) added 30 assists with five service aces.

Bryton Codd led the Clippers with a game-high 18 kills.

The Trojans return to action next weekend with a home-and-home series with the Medicine Hat College Rattlers - Friday night at home, Saturday night in Medicine Hat.