Weekend Recap - Week 11

Week 11 of the ACAC season was another busy one with Thunder Badminton, Basketball, Hockey, and Volleyball, all playing this weekend. Here’s what happened over the week for the Thunder.

Badminton

Badminton kicked off their 2024/25 season at SAIT as the group jumped into Tournament #1 with high expectations. CUE was involved in each event at the tournament, giving them a chance to place high in the overall team standings.

In the Men’s Singles event, Jonathan Ko claimed third place and the bronze medal, defeating Vishaw Patel from NAIT 21-19, 21-8. In women’s singles, Emma Tran finished fourth overall.

The Men's Doubles competition saw Raphael Motel and Jonathan Su win the gold medal, defeating the TKU duo of Hossein Ahmadi and Mahdi Ahmadi in a thrilling final, 21-15, 16-21, 22-20. In the Women’s Doubles event, Ella Gifford and Emma Tran (CUE) rounded out the top four. Mixed Doubles had Raphael Motel and Samantha Richard finish with the silver medal, falling to Mahdi Ahmadi and Melissa Roque from TKU in a close final, 21-5, 21-12.

Overall as a team, the Thunder finished second with 137 total points, 20 points shy of the first place leader NAIT after Tournament #1. Thunder Badminton’s next tournament will be in the new year, as The King’s University will host Tournament #2 on Sunday January 19th.

Basketball

Thunder Basketball was on the road this past weekend, facing off against Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP) on Friday night and Olds College on Saturday night.

For Women’s Basketball, Friday vs. RDP was a tight game throughout. After being down 38-27 at the half, the Thunder kept fighting, outscoring the Queens 17-10 in the third quarter and 16-15 in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, the early deficit was too much to overcome and the Thunder lost 63-60. Chloe Sutherland was a dual threat for the Thunder on this night, putting up 10 points, 9 assists,  5 rebounds and 6 steals vs. RDP. Georgia Bowman also put up a career high 15 points and added 6 rebounds in the game. She has seen huge growth over the season to this point, contributing significantly with the added minutes she’s been given to make an impact.

Saturday vs. Olds saw Women’s Basketball get their first win of the season by a score of 65-56. Another close game, both teams were tied 31-31 halfway through the game. The Thunder pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring the Broncos 18-11 and they never looked back. They continued outscoring their opponent in the fourth quarter and took the game. Chloe Sutherland was again a huge factor in this game, leading her team with 21 points. She’s been a massive offensive boost for the team after returning from an injury earlier in the year. Haley Cleland also stepped up big for the Thunder, leading the team in rebounds with 13 and steals with 4. 

On the men’s side, the Thunder won their third game in a row on Friday, defeating the Red Deer Kings 79-74. It was a huge 46-37 first half that the Thunder rode to the win. The defence made crucial stops in the second half of the game to hold onto their lead and secure the win. O’Ryan Wallace continued his amazing play, leading the team in points with 27 and assists with 8.

Saturday’s game vs. Olds saw Men’s Basketball’s winning streak come to an end, as the Broncos defeated the Thunder 96-68. It was an incredible offensive performance by the Broncos, who scored more than 25 points in three of the four quarters. Milton Lendein was all over the scoresheet for the Thunder this game, finishing with a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds. 

Both teams will have two home games coming up this weekend, as they play host to Medicine Hat College on Friday November 22nd and Briercrest College on Saturday November 23rd. Women’s Basketball is tied for 5th in the ACAC North Division at 1-5 and Men’s Basketball sits 4th in the ACAC North Division at 3-3.

Hockey

Thunder Hockey had two games over the weekend against the U of A Augustana Vikings.

Friday’s game saw Augustana score the first two goals of the match and take the early 2-0 lead at the end of the first period. Andrew Kennedy got the Thunder within one goal scoring his first of the season early in the third. The Vikings pushed back scoring another two goals late in the third to take the game 4-1. 

In Saturday’s game it was Augustana again who jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, but Concordia responded quickly with a goal from Dylan Handel, making it 2-1 at the end of the first period. The Vikings had a breakout second period scoring 5 goals, which would ultimately seal the game from them. By the end of the third period, Augustana potted another goal to tally 8 total in the game. Isaac Leik and Ethyn Hopp each scored a goal for the Thunder in this game, but the offensive power of the Vikings was too much to overcome. The game ended with a 8-3 final score. 

Thunder Hockey has another two games this coming weekend, as they go up against the NAIT Ooks. The first game of the two game series will be on the road Friday November 22nd and the second game will be a home game played at the new Silent Ice Center in Nisku, AB on Saturday November 23rd. Both teams look to renew their rivalry that ended in Concordia defeating NAIT in Round 1 of last year's ACAC Hockey Championships. The Thunder are now in 6th place in the ACAC Hockey Standings with a 2-8 record.

Volleyball

Thunder Volleyball had one game each this week against Red Deer Polytechnic on Friday night.

Women’s Volleyball lost in four sets with scores of 25-15 (RDP), 25-10 (RDP), and 25-20 (RDP), and 25-16 (RDP). Rookie Setter Paige Luttrell had her best game thus far for the Thunder, contributing 18  assists, 8 digs, and 2 service aces. Multi-sport athlete Emma Tran hit double digits in digs for the first time this season with 10, and Stephanie Kendziora had a career high and team high 14 kills in the match.

Men’s Volleyball fell to the Kings in straight sets with scores of 25-14 (RDP), 25-18 (RDP), and 25-12 (RDP). First year setter Hasit Desai had a career high 21 assists in the game, while also contributing with 2 kills, and 4 digs. He currently sits Top 15 in the ACAC in assists per set with 4.13 and total assists with 66. Kurt Neihoff also had a big game for the Thunder, collecting 6 kills, 6 digs, and 1 assist in the game. 

Thunder Volleyball will be on the road next weekend with a game in Medicine Hat on Friday November 22nd against the Rattlers and then travelling to Briercrest to play the Clippers on Saturday November 23rd. Concordia will be back at home on Friday November 29th, when they host the Lethbridge Polytechnic Kodiaks. Both teams are currently at 0-5 to start the season.