The Lakeland Rustlers kept themselves in playoff contention in Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference men’s volleyball, winning Saturday over a Northwestern Wolves team that had outlasted the Rustlers in a Friday marathon.
Read more: Barons place second in senior girls’ tourney
With a 5-10 record, the Rustlers are four points — or two wins — out of the fourth and final position in the North Division. They have four matches left in the regular season.
“Ultimately, we want to put ourselves in the best position possible, so that we’re not having to rely on anybody else,” said Lakeland coach Taylor Dyer.
“I mean, four wins out of the last four matches is probably what it’s going to take, and what we want to try to accomplish. That’s the goal, and that’s probably what it’s going to take.
“We can maybe get away with one loss, but then we need some help. So, we’ll take care of it on our own, hopefully.”
At home last weekend, the Rustlers split against Northwestern (11-6), the Grande Prairie club holding second spot in the North. The Wolves are just two points behind the first-place Keyano Huskies (12-1), who have won five straight and played four less matches than Northwestern.
Lakeland handed the Wolves their first loss in 10 matches when the Rustlers won 3-0 (25-20, 25-18 and 25-14) on Saturday afternoon in Lloydminster.
On the previous night, Northwestern prevailed 3-2.
“Today, we were rolling and had a superb match, from start to finish,” Dyer said Saturday after his Rustlers shouted and danced in celebration of their home-court shutout.
“That’s kind of the bar, and that’s how we’re going to have to perform the rest of the way out, to clinch that playoff spot, and hopefully see what can happen.”
Both of Lakeland’s remaining home-and-home doubleheaders are against teams that are higher in the North standings, each with two matches in hand. This weekend’s opponents, the Augustana Vikings (7-6), are in fourth place. On the following weekend, Lakeland’s matches are versus the NAIT Ooks (8-5), who sit in third spot, six points ahead of the Rustlers.
“Our conference is so good, every weekend and every match is going to be a battle,” Dyer said Saturday. “We saw that this weekend — on Friday, the five-set loss, (in which) the guys battled and came up short.
“We just made a few too many errors on our side last night. Give (the Wolves) some credit. They played really well last night, and we just didn’t quite answer the bell.
“Then today, obviously was much better.”
The Rustlers have stayed in the playoff hunt, despite the absence of five veterans who opted to red-shirt this school year after pre-season sanctions cost Lakeland four losses by forfeiture.
The team’s remaining players are playing with purpose, putting up a fight and not making excuses.
“Maybe it’s not what our starting lineup might have looked like this year, but I’m super-excited about this group and what the potential is for these guys,” Dyer said. “They’re showing it day in and day out. In our training, it’s been really good. Give these guys some credit — the fight is there and they’re not backing down. They’re ready to try and make a push.
“It’s kind of taken everybody. We’ve had different guys in and out (of the lineup), so it’s been by committee. We’re just continuing to train hard every week and prepare ourselves the best we can for the weekend. No matter who’s going to be on the floor, the players are showing those guts to try and get us to where we want to be.”
Lakeland and Augustana meet Friday in Camrose and Saturday in Lloydminster. The men’s matches are set to begin at about 8 p.m., with the women kicking off action at 6 p.m. on both days.
Read more: Chauvin farm boy Pickford eases the Storm
