Kings 3 Clippers 1
There is not much more Tim Finnigan could have done in three years in a Red Deer College Kings men’s volleyball uniform.
So far he has been named to the first team all-conference twice and was named an all-Canadian last year as he lead the Kings (21-3; 66-20) to their first national championship since 2007.
This year he has battled injuries but still has the Kings holding down top spot in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference and the No. 3 Canadian Colleges Athletic Association ranking.
His final time on the RDC floor was a successful one as the Kings beat the Briercrest Clippers 3-1 (25-23, 26-24, 19-25, 25-18) on Saturday.
Not bad for a Red Deer native who just wanted to play college volleyball with his younger brother Anthony — who also played his last game at RDC.
“I don’t know whether to feel sad or excited about what’s coming up,” said Tim Finnigan, who failed to register a kill or major stat in limited play in two sets due to his injured quads. “It’s hard to be as injured as I was for my fifth year, but I’ve got to think long term and my big priority is a gold medal at the ACAC and a gold medal hopefully at the CCAA.”
Finnigan started his college career at SAIT, transferring to RDC after two years with the Trojans. He is now eyeing a coaching position with the Kings.
Second year middle Justin Lukacs also announced he will not be returning to the Kings next year.
It was far from a clean send off for the trio.
The Kings were sloppy throughout the four sets and let Briercrest (13-11; 49-37) who was desperate to keep their season alive, carry what little momentum there was in the match. But the Kings still managed to rally for wins in the first two sets, and bounce back from a bad third set to run away with the fourth set.
“It was a little sloppy, it’s tough not having Tim on the floor, he’s a stabilizing force for sure,” said Kings head coach Aaron Schulha. “We’re looking forward to having him back next week at whatever per cent he can go.”
Nic Dubinsky led the Kings with 16 kills, nine digs, two blocks and one service ace. Regan Fathers added 12 kills and four digs while setter Luke Brisbane had two kills, 39 assists, three aces, 11 digs and one block.
Zac Ens had a game-high 27 kills for Briercrest to go with nine digs and three aces while setter Carter Reimer had 40 assists and 11 digs.
The Kings now head to the ACAC championships at the University of Alberta-Augustana in Camrose, where they will face The King’s University College Eagles (13-11; 47-44) in their first game on Thursday at 3 p.m.
Queens 3 Clippers 0
The RDC Queens women’s volleyball team head into provincials playing their best volleyball of the season.
The Queens (22-2; 69-12) routed the Briercrest Clippers (18-6; 61-29) 3-0 (25-10, 25-19, 25-22) on Saturday at RDC, dropping one set in two matches to the second-place team in the ACAC.
The Queens are as healthy as they have been all year and clearly their most dangerous. The biggest addition in the last couple of weeks being power Leah Koot, who has been injured most of the semester, giving the Queens another weapon on the outside to go with Miranda Dawe and middle Alex Donaghy.
“This is a big step forward to getting to that final level, playing six-and-a-half real solid sets,” said Queens head coach Talbot Walton. “It bodes well for us going into provincials, we’re close to where we need to be, we just have to find that little extra gear and I think we’ll be ready to go.”
The Queens also said honoured their departing players prior to the start of the match, but they said goodbye to eight players — Koot, Donaghy, Marisa Neufeld, Kendra Sorensen, Bronwyn Hawkes, Kelsey Ewashkiw, Madelyn Quinn and Megan Schmidt — leaving them some big holes heading into next year.
“Eight is a lot, we were never really planning on having eight (move on), then a couple had some program changes and they felt it was time to continue on with their academics rather than athletics,” said Walton. “I always support that, it’s a very difficult decision to give up a sport you love and make a head decision.”
Saturday served as a positive final memory on home court for these girls as Koot and Dawe both finished with nine kills while Hawkes had 28 assists and 11 digs and Quinn had five assists and 13 digs.
The Queens head to the ACAC championships in Olds as the top seed in the province and in the CCAA and will play the NAIT Ooks (15-9; 51-41) on Thursday at 8 p.m.