Lakeland Rustlers Weekend Recap - Nov 20, 2023
Rustlers Athletics had another winning weekend in November.
Our women's hockey team hosted the Medicine Hat Rattlers, a new member to the ACACA league. Both games were extremely one sided- with Lakeland winning 8-0 and 9-2. Kylie Perry had two goals and an assist in both games, while Hailey Carothers had a hattrick and an assist on Saturday. The sweep keeps the Rustlers in third place.
Women's and men's basketball hit the road for a pair of of games in the South Division, starting in Lethbridge. The top ranked women's squad initially faced some resistance from the Kodiaks, leading by just four points at the half, but a 22-11 third quarter sealed the contest that ended 82-57 Rustlers.
Hineaupounamu Nuku had a game high 17, while Alana Olson had 15 rebounds. Abi Whitehead also had a nice game off the bench with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Saturday night in Calgary, the Rustlers got off to a fast start against the Ambrose Lions, outscoring them 25-13 in the 1st Quarter. 79-58 was the final score, with Nuku and Whitehead posting 18 and 14 points respectively. Lakeland remains the clear favourite in the ACAC and undefeated against CCAA competition.
The men's team a dominant, yet streaky game in Lethbridge, leading by 13 after the opening quarter, then seeing it drop to four at the half. A 28-14 third sealed the 97-78 win where all five starters scored in double figures and Andre McFadden had a game high 20 points off the bench.
Against Ambrose, the Rustlers allowed 30 points in the opening quarter, before clamping down on defence and allowing just 9 in the second. A 28-16 final quarter gave Lakeland the 92-70 victory. Once again, the Rustlers had six players in double figures for points. That's the squad's seventh straight victory, who sit one game back of first place in the North Division.
Women's volleyball continued their winning ways in dominant fashion as well, hosting the Kodiaks and the Lions. Both matches were in straight sets, 25-9, 25-18, 25-17 against Lethbridge and 25-22, 25-19, 25-18 against Ambrose. Avery Bates had a monster weekend, posting 29 kills, 7 digs and 6 blocks, with 17 kills and 4 blocks in the three sets on Saturday. This keeps the Rustlers lined up with the Eagles, the lone team to beat them this season.
Men's volleyball had the wildest match of the year so far Friday night against the Kodiaks, an up and down affair that featured trash-talking, contentious calls, spectacular defence and powerful serving. After winning the first set 25-16, Lakeland were out-muscled over the next two sets, losing 22-25, 21-25, before completely outclassing the Kodiaks at the service line to win 25-20 and 15-13. Brock Tomyn was the Player of the Game with 17 kills, an ace and 2 blocks.
However, the Rustlers were not able to capture that magic on Saturday, playing arguably their worst match of the season in a straight sets loss to the Lions. Scores were 25-15, 25-22, 25-19. The split moves Lakeland to 6-2, good for second in the ACAC North.
This weekend has the final home dates of the first semester for Rustlers Athletics, with several events going on at once. First, curling host a regional tournament in Vermilion, which will run Friday through Sunday. Basketball have a split weekend with the NAIT Ooks, starting in Lloydminster on Friday. Hockey has one home game Saturday evening against NAIT. And the volleyball squads have their final home matches on Saturday against the Augustana Vikings.