Lakeland Rustlers Weekend Recap - Feb 6, 2024
After a relatively quiet final weekend to finish January, Lakeland College Athletics had one of the busiest three-day stretches of the ACAC season.
Rustlers Basketball
Lakeland's basketball teams hit the road to face the Northwestern Polytechnique Wolves up in Grande Prairie. The women were heavily favoured to keep their unbeaten streak going, while the men faced a key North Division matchup. Little surprises occurred in the women's contests, with the Rustlers winning 80-46 and 84-34. Susan Ayaa had 32 points off the bench in the series.
The men had a poor shooting night Friday, hitting just 24.4 percent of their shots in a 52-66 loss. Saturday afternoon, Lakeland bounced back in an 80-70 win to split the weekend, with Chance Samuel and Baha Salma scoring 21 and 22 points respectively.
Chris King's women's team is 16-0 with two road games and two home games remaining on the schedule. Sheray Thomas' squad sits 10-6, second in the North, with a tough stretch of South Division opponents ahead.
Rustlers Futsal
Futsal was back in Lac La Biche for the second North Regional. Both teams entered the weekend 3-2, with a shot at qualify for the ACAC Championship, but they needed to finish at least second because of Portage College getting a berth as the Championship hosts.
The women's team once again went 3-2, with one of those losses at the hands of the NAIT Ooks. This left the Rustlers record at 6-4, good for third place, but not enough for the Conference Championship.
The men meanwhile, managed a huge 2-1 victory over NAIT which, combined with the Ooks tying Portage, gave the Rustlers a 7-3 record and second place in the division. Kevin Wagner's team will now compete in the playoff round of the futsal season, back in Lac La Biche March 8-10.
Rustlers Hockey
Women's hockey had a three-game homestand over the weekend, hosting the SAIT Trojans. While the first contest was competitive (a 2-0 21 save shutout for Mackenzie Dojahn), the next two were blowouts, with Lakeland winning 6-1 and 6-3. Hailey Carothers and Claudia Lammers each had 3 goals between the three games.
The sweep improves Morgan Mann's club to 16-4, good for a three-way tie for first with RDP and NAIT.
Rustlers Volleyball
Finally, volleyball hosted the NWP Wolves for a pair of contests in Lloydminster. Each team was expected to maintain their current standing against the lower ranked Wolves squads, both of which were just outside the playoff picture.
The Lakeland women wasted no time, winning the opening set 25-6 Friday evening. While the rest of the sets were more competitive, NWP never cleared 20 points in the two straight set Lakeland victories. Avery Bates continued her torrid pace at the net, posting 12 kills in each match and adding 7 blocks, an ace and 18 digs between the two contests. Second year middle blocker Emma Jeffs made an appearance in the starting lineup Saturday and won POG.
The men were also dominant in their matchup, winning 3-0 twice. The closest moment was a brief four-point deficit late in the second set on Friday, which the Rustlers still won 25-23. Brock Tomyn had 24 kills and 6 aces, while Jake Willick had 20 digs.
Austin Dyer's squad is now 16-1 and have not lost since October 28. They have also not dropped a set at home this season. Taylor Dyer's team improves to 11-6, clinching at least third place in the division, with a shot at second still within reach.
What's Coming Up
This sets up another busy weekend, as regular season play starts to wind down. Basketball is back on the road in Calgary, where they will face the St. Mary's Lightning and the SAIT Trojans. Both women's squads at these schools are tough, but the men's programs are each nationally ranked.
Hockey is also traveling south, this time to Medicine Hat, where they will play three games against the Rattlers. Both basketball and hockey will be streamed live on ACAC TV.
Then, men's and women's volleyball play their final home matches Friday and Saturday night, which will wrap up league play. Friday evening's contest against the Olds Broncos is also volleyball's annual Food Drive, started by the women's program prior to the pandemic. Any fan who brings food items to donate will get in for half price.
Saturday evening is Senior Night, Alumni Night and Community Volleyball Night. Graduating athletes Kaylie Lueck and Jana Laing will be recognized during the night, volleyball alumni and community teams will get in for half price. The opponent is the SAIT Trojans.