A Battle of the Southwest Split

A split in the Battle of the Southwest.

In the annual exhibition between Great Plains College and Millar College of the Bible, each school took home one of the trophies on Wednesday night.

The women's SunDogs beat the Edge in straight sets 25-20 and 25-20.

“I'm feeling really good,” said women's SunDogs Coach Morgan Montgomery. “The girls had a slow start to the game, but they finally woke up a little bit and we came out victorious. It feels good to bring the cup back home.”

Montgomery wasn't pleased with her team's energy level up until the midway point of the second set when Millar took a four point lead.

“I think the girls finally woke up and realized that we're not going to be able to easily walk through this game,” she said. “They're actually going to have to work for it, Millar wasn't just going to hand it off to them. After Millar started hitting a little bit blocking some of our balls the girls decided it was time to play a little harder.”

The men's match saw Millar withstand a couple of surges from the SunDogs in a 25-18 and 25-17 straight set win.

“We just didn't have it tonight,” SunDogs men's coach Travis Cuthbert said. “We've got a re-match against them first game Friday at Westerns. Hopefully we can come with the team we want to see on the court and play a little bit better.”

The SunDogs are provincial champions, but they haven't been consistent enough for their coach.

“Our intensity level can be up and be down,” Cuthbert said. “Sometimes I don't know which team is going to show up. I don't know what it is.”

Great Plains College beat Millar in the provincial final, while the Edge have won all three other matches between the two teams. They will get another chance to hit the court against one another in Calgary at Westerns this weekend. The SunDogs will have to make some adjustments.

“I think I registered two blocks in two sets,” Cuthbert noted. “That's not enough against a team like them with two key power hitters and a big middle attack. We're not going to beat a team like that if we're not a force at the net.”

The women's SunDogs are also heading to Westerns this weekend and preparing to deal with some unknowns.

“Consistency is going to be our biggest key,” Montgomery said. “We're going to face a lot of tough teams and some teams from Manitoba we haven't seen before. As long as the girls go in focused and we keep our play consistent we're going to do alright.”