Rustlers Weekend Recap - February 9, 2026
Another critical week for Rustlers Athletics produced successes across all teams competing in the three-day span.
Rustlers Hockey
Women's hockey held a road-and-home series with the RDP Queens, with a chance to clinch first place. The women won 3-1 on Friday, outshooting the Queens 39-9. Kyla Benjamin scored twice, while Keyra Buziak had a goal and an assist.
Saturday at the Cenovus Energy Hub, Red Deer put up more of a fight, but was still outclassed by the Rustlers in a 4-2 Lakeland victory. Buziak notched three more points, while Benjamin added two and Marly Dumanski had two assists. Schay Camphaug earned both wins. This improves the team to 21-2 and they will host their ACAC Semifinal series at the end of the month, as well as the ACAC Finals if they return.
Rustlers Futsal
Lakeland's futsal teams were in Edmonton at the King's University for the second regional tournament of the season. This competition was the last chance to secure playoff berths at the ACAC Championship, with the men coming into the event second in the Northeast Division and the women third. A second place finish is an automatic qualification, while two wild card seeds are available for the two best third place finishers.
The men went 1-2, losing to Keyano 2-6 and King's 2-4 while defeating Portage 8-4. They finish the regular season 3-3, enough to secure a playoff spot. Ben Touw lead the team with three goals in the three games.
The women had an identical record to their first regional, 1-1-1, including a 2-0 win over Portage, a 3-6 loss to Keyano and a 2-2 tie against King's. Natalie Pelchat scored two goals. This leaves the team at 2-2-2, as they wait for the results of the other regional competitions to find out if they will receive one of the two wildcard positions at the ACAC Championship.
Rustlers Volleyball
Volleyball held a critical series with the Augustana Vikings. On the women's side, they were facing the top team in the North Division, while needing every remaining match to clinch the fourth and final playoff spot. On the men's side, the Rustlers needed to win both matches just to have a shot at taking that final spot, sitting two wins back of the Vikings.
The women won both matches in four sets, (25-19, 25-22, 22-25, 25-15 and 22-25, 25-20, 25-19, 25-16) improving to 9-8. Avery Bates and Carly Hawryluk combined for more than 60 points, while middle Ragen Niccol was a force in the middle both nights. They now need just one victory to secure fourth place.
The men won both matches against the Vikings in straight sets, (25-23, 25-16, 25-17 and 25-20, 25-21, 25-23) playing their best ball of the season so far. Libero Lukas Sarna won Player of the Match Saturday, while wings Cam Craft, Josh Bell and Aiden Maier combined for 31 kills on Friday. They now sit tied at 7-10 with Augustana, but have the tiebreaker thanks to the weekend sweep.
What's Coming Up
This weekend, hockey has a bye week, while basketball and volleyball have their final events of the regular season against the NAIT Ooks. At the conclusion of each men's and women's contest, the athletes will sign autographs for young fans.
Our hoops squads play Friday evening starting at 6:00 pm and 8:00 pm, with the men celebrating three fifth year athletes. If the men's team sweeps their matchup, they are in good position to finish first in the North Division, with just two road games remaining the following weekend.
Volleyball starts 6:00 pm and roughly 8:00 pm Saturday, with a special Valentine's Day Arch set up for photos and three women's volleyball players competing for the last time in the Lakeland gym. The women can secure their playoff position with a single win, while the men will be relying on Augustana's results in addition to their own in determining their playoff fate.