Wolves 3 Queens 2
The RDC Queens met a familiar foe in the Alberta Colleges Women’s Volleyball League championships and unlike the last two seasons came out on the short end.
The Queens defeated the Grande Prairie College Wolves the last two years in the ACAC final. This season they drew them in the first round and the Wolves took a 25-22, 26-24, 24-26, 14-25, 15-10 victory before a full house at RDC Thursday.
The Queens looked to have all the momentum after dominating the fourth set, but the Wolves gained some momentum when they served first and took a 3-0 lead. They led 8-5 when the teams switched sides and were never challenged.
“We let it slip out of our control the first two sets,” said Queens head coach Talbot Walton. “It was hard to say why, but they played well and their No. 1 (Megan Koch) played well before she cooled down a bit. We also had a couple leads in those first two sets and didn’t capitalize on them and put them away when we had the opportunity.”
The Queens also didn’t pass well, especially on serve receive, and couldn’t run their offence with any consistency. Walton switched setters after the second set bringing Meagan Kuzyk in in place of Ashley Fehr.
“It wasn’t that we passed that much better, but Meagan is a little smaller and quicker and was able to get to some of those balls and get us back into our system,” added Walton, who was disappointed with the fifth set.
“There was a two-point spread and we let it get away from us. It was a combination of things. A few balls could have been in but were just out and we didn’t find a way to put the points away. But give them credit they’re scrappy and a good defensive team. We just didn’t get away from their middle.”
Talbot was hoping home court would give them an edge.
“We were, but we’re never disappointed in showcasing who we are as a team in front of our home fans. It’s an honour to play at home.”
Middle Hanna Delemont was the RDC player of the match with eight kills, eight digs, an ace and two blocks.
“Hannah has learned well last three years,” said Walton. “She embraced the role. What a middle blocker needs is massive work capacity and work ethic and she has those things in spades. She has the attributes that makes for good middle. Plus she has a great personality on the floor.”
Miranda Dawe led the Queens with 18 kills and 16 digs while McKenna Barthel added 10 kills, 10 digs and three blocks. Kelsey Tymkow had seven kills and 12 digs and libero Olivia Barnes had an outstanding match with 30 digs.
Koch led the Wolves with 19 kills while Kaitlyn Cordingley had 17 kills and 18 digs and Jamie Strauss 21 digs
Grande Prairie will face Briecrest Bible College Clippers in the 7 p.m. semifinal. BBCV downed Keyano 25-19, 25-20, 25-21 as Samantha Zacharias had 14 kills, four aces, two blocks and nine digs.
On the other side the Olds Broncos run the same route as the Queens as they lost 21-25, 23-25, 25-23, 25-23, 12-15 to the Kings University Eagles.
The Queens face Keyano at 2 p.m. while Olds and Lakeland clash at noon.
Keir Alcorn had 20 kills and 25 digs for TKU with Naomi Jardine finishing with 24 kills and 27 digs for Olds.
The Eagles will meet SAIT in the 5 p.m. semifinal. SAIT downed Lakeland 25-21, 19-25, 25-19, 25-23 with Megan Brennan finishing with 17 kills and 13 digs.
Kings 3 Ooks 0
In the men’s playoffs at NAIT, the RDC Kings defeated the host Ooks 25-21, 25-20, 25-18.
‘We jumped on them early and took a 5-0 lead in the first set, but their best server got them back in it and tied at five,” explained Kings head coach Aaron Schuilha.
“After that it was back and forth until about the middle of the set when we started to take control.”
The Kings control the match with their blocking, finishing with nine stuff blocks.
“That was nice to see, something we’ve been stressing of late,” said Schulha, who felt the guys may have been a bit nervous early.
“Once we settled down we played with a lot of confidence.”
Riley Friesen had 12 kills, three digs and two blocks for the Kings while Nic Dubinsky had 10 kills, four digs and two blocks, middle Ton Lyon six kills and two blocks and Ty Moorman four kills and two blocks. Setter Luke Brisbane had two kills, 29 assists and three digs and libero Michael Sumner 14 digs.
The Kings face Augustana in today’s 8 p.m. semifinal.
Augustana downed Lethbridge 3-0. On the other side, Medicine Hat stopped The Kings University 3-2 and Keyano downed SAIT 3-0.