Gilbert fitting well with volleyball Kings
Chris Gilbert didn’t expect to step in and start when he joined the RDC Kings volleyball squad last fall.
“I needed to learn the basics and get comfortable in the college environment, although I did push hard to get on the court,” explained the 18-year-old from Lethbridge.
Gilbert was also behind third-year veteran Evan Whitecotton, who is one of the team captains.
However, by the second half of the Alberta Colleges Men’s Volleyball League season Gilbert has stepped in as the starting setter, although head coach Aaron Schulha stresses that’s no slight to Whitecotton.
“Evan is looked at as one of our team leaders, but Chris is a little taller and gets to the tighter ball (at the net), which helps our offence a bit more,” explained Schulha. “Chris is very receptive to what we’re telling him and works hard in practice. Both setters do. I’m happy with both guys.”
Schulha feels Whitecotton had the right mentality to come in off the bench.
“We know what we’re going to get from Evan whether he starts or not. The thing is with Chris he’s improving the way we want him to and he’ll be back next year as well. The whole thing is we have an idea where we want to be at the end of February and in March and Chris gives us that opportunity to be there.
“As well we want Chris to have the game reps so both setters are confident when we need them.”
The two setters also work well together.
“Evan helps me a lot. We’re always talking about what the other team is doing,” added Gilbert.
Gilbert knew there would be a chance to play when he agreed to attend RDC, but also felt it was the right fit academically as he works towards a bachelor of science in bio chemistry
“This was the best fit for schooling and volleyball,” said Gilbert, who was one of the top recruits in the province last year. He played with the provincial U19 team along with Notre Dame grad Mitch Irvine and Lucas Jacobson of Sherwood Park, both of whom are also with the Kings.
“That made it easy to come in plus I knew a couple of the other guys as well,” he explained. “But this is certainly a higher level than Team Alberta. The guys are three overall older, plus the game is more intense and more physical than anything I’ve played before.”
The Kings go into the weekend doubleheader against the Briercrest Bible College Clippers of Davenport, Sask., in a battle for third place in the South Division. They sit third with a 9-7 record with SAIT at 8-8 and BBC at 6-10, However, the Clippers are coming off a weekend that saw them split with the first-place Medicine Hat Rattlers.
“There is no easy team in our division,” said Gilbert. “We need to be prepared for everyone.”
The Kings have only four games remaining in the regular schedule and need to start playing with consistency. The last two weeks against both SAIT and Mount Royal, they lost on the road and won at home.
“We have the skill to play with anyone in the league, but it’s a matter of consistency and emotion,” said Gilbert. “We need to apply ourselves every time out. It’s that time of year.”
The Queens go into the weekend with a 15-1 record while the Clippers are tied for third at 6-10. A weekend sweep by RDC will wrap up first place in the south.
The third-place hockey Queens have a big test this week as they meet the second-place SAIT Trojans in a home-and-home series, opening Thursday at 7 p.m. at the arena. The Queens are four points back of the Trojans and three points up on the MacEwan Griffins.
The teams meet Saturday at SAIT.
• Mixed curling skip Tyler Bennett and volleyball’s Jill Folkard received the Booster Juice RDC athlete of the week awards.
Bennett led the curling team to a perfect record in ACAC play during the weekend while Folkard came in off the bench in both matches to add a spark to the lineup as the Queens sweep a doubleheader from Mount Royal.
Contact Danny Rode at drode@reddeeradvocate.com
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