The RDC Kings battled tooth and nail Saturday to knock off a rival.
Facing the Lethbridge College Kodiaks with a spot in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Men’s Volleyball Championship bronze medal match on the line, it was a slugfest to the very end.
RDC got the better of the Kodiaks in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Association Championship last month, but it was the Kodiaks who got the last laugh Saturday in Fredricton, N.B.
Lethbridge won the fifth and deciding set 15-13, after falling behind 8-6 at the switch. It was a heartbreaking way for the season to end for the Kings.
The Kodiaks won the opening set 25-23, but the Kings bounced back with a 25-16 win. Lethbridge won set three but the Kings forced the fifth with a 25-18 win in the fourth and looked to be rolling. RDC lost third-year Australian setter Tom Wass for parts of the third set, but he bounced back and helped them win the fourth. He was player of the game for RDC with 50 assists.
In a back and forth fifth set, Carter Hansen took over for the Kodiaks and finished with a match-high 21 kills. He also had five aces in the victory.
For the Kings, it was rookie Carter Hills who led the way. The Legal, Alta. native led the way with 18 kills, 13 digs and also had four block assists, one block and one ace. Australian Patrik Toze had 13 kills, six digs and two aces for RDC.
Both Hills and Toze were named second-team tournament all-stars after the match.