Kodiaks Men’s and Women’s volleyball teams return to ACAC championships this weekend

Both clubs have drawn King’s University in the opening round quarterfinals.

For the women’s team, it’s been a remarkable turnaround this season with a record of 14-10.

Led by second-year head coach Anna Schwark, the Kodiaks improved by eight wins from last season and qualified for the ACAC championship for the first time since 2007-08.

Schwark says they’re all very proud of making it to the conference championships,

“Our goals at the beginning of the season were to consistently get better each day and I think focusing on that alone has helped us end up where we are now,” Schwark said.

Veteran Kristine Ward continued to guide the offense for the Kodiaks, finishing fourth in total kills with 278 and seventh in kills per set at 3.12 in the ACAC this season.

The team the Kodiaks will be taking on, the King’s University Eagles finished second in the ACAC north division with a record of 17-7 and are slotted 13th in the CCAA national rankings.

“Our goals this week are still to be better than the day before, but we want to bring more competitiveness and relentlessness to our game play,” Schwark continued. “We are fighting to break from a reputation we don’t feel fits us and we want to set a new standard of Kodiaks volleyball where everyone knows we are good enough to make it to the championships every year.”

The Kodiaks men’s team returns to the ACAC playoffs for the seventh time in nine seasons, but for the first time under the guidance of second-year head coach Greg Gibos.

They finished second in the ACAC south division with a 16-8 record and enter the tournament 10th in the CCAA national rankings.

Gibos says he’s incredibly proud and humbled by the hard work the young men in their program have contributed this season.

“One of the goals the group set at the beginning of the season was to get to the conference championships and we are so excited to represent the school and our community in pursuit of a conference title. We won’t be satisfied with just getting to the tournament, we want to take the next step together,” Gibos added.

The Kodiaks have been led all season by the two-pronged attack of Carter Hansen and Dax Whitehead. Hansen finished second in the conference in kills per set at 3.54 and Whitehead was ninth with 3.04, while also breaking the Kodiaks career kills record.

The King’s University Eagles men’s team finished third in the ACAC north division with a 12-12 record.

The teams have met twice in exhibition play this season, once in September and once in December, with the Kodiaks winning both by 3-1 scores.

“I’m so excited they get to compete together and enjoy the excitement surrounding the conference championships,” says Gibos. “I couldn’t ask for a better group of athletes to be around. They’ve grown the game in southern Alberta and inspired another generation of volleyball athletes.”

Both teams will begin play at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 22.

by Aaron Mahoney (@Mahones93 on Twitter)

Kodiaks Men’s and Women’s volleyball teams return to ACAC championships this weekend

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