The Red Deer Polytechnic Kings made a statement on Saturday.
It was a nonverbal message to the rest of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference, defeating the Lethbridge College Kodiaks 3-0 for the second day in a row.
The Kodiaks came into the weekend at 6-1 sitting on top of the South Division and ranked third in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association. The Kings proved they are now the team to beat and have launched themselves to first place in the division with an impressive 8-1 record heading into the break.
Head coach Aaron Schulha said it was an outstanding weekend for his team.
“It was our best, most complete matches of the year… I think it all starts with our first contact if we’re serving well and passing the ball well we’re a pretty hard team to beat,” he said.
“I wouldn’t have expected two 3-0 matches coming into this weekend with Lethbridge. They’re a very good team and they’re still dangerous. I fully expect to see them at conference championships later on but yeah I’m proud of the boys. Great finish leading into the break where we can get a little bit healthier hopefully.”
On Saturday Kings outside hitter Brett Lower led the way with 14 kills leading to 15 points and Nicholas Possingham also added 15 points with 10 kills.
The Kings head into the break with just one loss under their belt which came against Briercrest College on Oct. 15 on the road.
With 10 games remaining, Schulha said he’s satisfied with how they’ve played so far this season. He explained they’ve had to battle through a lot of adversity playing six of their nine games on the road with only 10 players traveling at times due to injuries.
“To be 8-1 it’s great,” he said. “I think that we’ve taken some necessary strides in the right direction… I think the sky’s the limit with this group and we just keep building. I think now as we add a couple of bodies at Christmas that internal battle will be stronger in practice and that should just make us stronger and take steps in the right direction.”
The Kings will return to action on Jan. 13 with a trip to Edmonton to take on Concordia University before playing at home on Jan. 14 against King’s University.