Hamish Hazelden is finding his footing as a major force for the RDC Kings volleyball team.
The six-foot-seven second-year right side had a monster night for the Kings with 18 kills in a four-set victory (25-20, 25-13, 23-25, 25-20) over the Lethbridge College Kodiaks.
After being sidelined for much of the first half of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference season, the Australian is becoming a huge weapon for RDC.
“He changes what other teams do from a blocking perspective,” Kings head coach Aaron Schulha said. “Six-nine guy, long arms. Dax Whitehead is a very good player in our league for them and I thought Hamish did a good job of neutralizing him for the most part.”
Schulha added that blocking was a big part of the Kings success in the contest. He noted it was their service game early that helped set them up to make big blocks. RDC finished the night with five stuff blocks and 10 block assists.
“We were rolling pretty early on and touching them up. I think that has a lot to do with our service pressure we were putting on,” Schulha said.
“Then in the third set we let off the gas and we missed a pile, which allowed them to get on a roll. If we can look after our serve and put them in some service trouble, it allows our block and defence to go to work.”
Ben Holmes also had 12 kills in the win for RDC.
With losses in their last four matches, it was critical to pick up the victory on Friday to keep pace in the ACAC South Division. The Kings are currently two points behind the Kodiaks for third in the division.
Schulha said that he was satisfied with the performance but definitely thinks his team is capable of more.
“It was pretty solid minus the first ten points of the third where we dug ourselves a hole. There’s no reason why we couldn’t have got that done in three,” Schulha said.
“Especially after losing in SAIT that way, after winning the first two. Showed a lot of character in the fourth to battle back and pull away at the end.”
The Kings will take on the Kodiaks at RDC Saturday at 3 p.m.
Email sports tips to Byron Hackett
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