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RDC Queens advance to ACAC Provincial Championship semis

Queens Chanelle Kayser and Miranda Dawe named to ACAC South Division All-Conference team
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RDC Queens fifth-year setter Chanelle Kayser was player of the game in their ACAC opening game against NAIT. (Photo by BYRON HACKETT/Advocate Staff)

The RDC Queens were not quite perfect in their opening game in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference Volleyball Championships, but they did just enough to earn a semifinal berth.

RDC ended with a three-set sweep (25-23, 25-19, 25-18) over the NAIT Ooks in the quarter-finals in Camrose although head coach Chris Wandler said there were some dicey moments early on.

“We felt pretty good going into it but NAIT put us on our heels to start set one. They served the ball super aggressive and we couldn’t get that first contact consistent,” Wandler said.

“We dealt with it and persevered. We started to figure it out and our Queens machine just got rolling and it turned out to be a really good result.”

As the match progressed, fifth-year setter Chanelle Kayser took control and spread the ball around, which helped the Queens power through to the win. Kayser finished with 23 assists, five aces, five digs and two kills and was named Player of the Game.

Fifth-year Miranda Dawe had 11 kills to led the Queens, while Hanna Delemont and McKenna Barthel pitched in seven and Naomi Jardine had eight.

“(Chanelle) did a really good job with the passing we had and found the outside hitters. Once we dialed in the passing a little bit, then the middle blockers got a little more involved. I was really happy with what she did with the passes she had,” Wandler said.

The Queens will take on the top-ranked ACAC North Division Lakeland College Rustlers in the semis, who had a record of 23 match wins and only one loss this year.

Lakeland topped to the Ambrose University Lions in three-sets to advance to the semifinal against RDC. Wandler said it was the first chance he had to see them play this year, but got a pretty good idea of how they’ll play them on Friday night.

“Hopefully a bit more consistent to start off. They’re a good, disciplined team. They serve the ball extremely well and we hope we can control that. If we can control our first contact, we can put them in a bit of distress,” Wandler said.

“Hopefully we can shut down a couple of their pieces and force them to beat us one way. Not three different ways.”

On Thursday night at the ACAC Awards banquet, Kayser and Dawe were also named to the ACAC South All-Conference team. Both Queens set career milestones this season, with Kayser surpassing 2,000 assists and Dawe notching her 1,000th career kill.



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Byron Hackett

About the Author: Byron Hackett

Byron has been the sports reporter at the advocate since December of 2016. He likes to spend his time in cold hockey arenas accompanied by luke warm, watered down coffee.
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