Queens run ends at nationals
Les Élans 3 Queens 0
North Bay, Ont. — The RDC Queens volleyball team could not have gone through much more in a 21-hour span.
They went from heightened expectations to extreme disappointment to renewed hope to flat-out exhaustion.
Ultimately it added up to a 3-0 loss (25-15, 25-18, 25-21) to the FX Garneau Les Élans in the bronze medal game at Canadian Colleges Athletic Association national finals tournament on Sunday.
“That was our third match in 21 hours, so we were definitely tired,” said Queens coach Talbot Walton. “It was a gainst a team that was very good defensively as well. They wore us down a little bit and then we would have a lapse in play and the match wound up out of reach as we gave up three or four points at a time instead of just one or two.”
But just to get to the bronze medal game, they had to pull up their boot straps and defeat a bigger, more physical Humber College Hawks squad 3-1 (17-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-19).
The Queens were lead by Jessica Clutton in the bronze semifinal game as finished with 23 kills.
In the bronze medal game all-Canadian Katie Graves had eight kills and 15 digs while Clutton had another eight kills.
It amounted to making it a step further than last year as the Queens won provincials and finished fourth overall this year after being a runner up at provincials last year and finishing fifth at the tournament last March.
“The adjustments we had to make from provincials to here were some tough adjustments to make, but I thought we played pretty well,” said Walton. “Our best players played their best and from a coaching stand point you want to be playing your best at this time of the year so we’ve got to be happy with this.”
COMMENTS
Let's keep comments:
We ask that all participants own their words by logging in with their Facebook account. It's a simple process that will take seconds and helps keep our comments free of trolls, cranks, and “drive-by” commenters.
We reserve the right to remove comments from anyone using screen names, pseudonyms or false identities. Please see our FAQ if you have questions or concerns about using Facebook to comment.