Red Deer Polytechnic’s volleyball teams will bring some hardware back home from the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association national championships.
The Queens and Kings both won bronze this past weekend – the women’s event was held at Holland College in Charlottetown, P.E.I., and the men’s event was hosted at Cégep Limoilou in Quebec City, Que.
The Queens swept the Mount Saint Vincent Mystics (25-19, 25-19 and 25-16) in the quarterfinal, thanks in part to the team’s player of the game Sydney Rix, who contributed 10 kills, one block, one dig and an ace.
On Saturday, the Vancouver Island University Mariners, which has won the past three national championships, downed the Queens in three sets (25-23, 25-19 and 26-24) in a CCAA Championship semi-final game.
RDP then swept Les Rouges de Saint-Boniface (25-13, 25-17 and 25-9) in a national bronze semi-final, before earning bronze by beating Lynx d’Eduouard-Montpetit in five sets (16-25, 25-22, 17-25, 25-21 and 15-12).
“It’s been a heck of a season, going 22-1 throughout the season and playoffs,” said Chris Wandler, Queens Volleyball interim head coach.
“This match was pretty intense, especially considering both teams played three matches in less than 24 hours.”
The Queens have now won bronze in back-to-back nationals.
Outside Hitter Tess Pearman was selected to the CCAA Women’s Volleyball First All-Tournament team. Rix and Kaylee Domoney earned spots on the CCAA Second All-Tournament team.
The Mariners won their fourth consecutive national championship with a four-set decision over the Douglas College Royals.
Meanwhile, the Kings started their tournament with a five-set loss to the host Limoilou Titans (19-25, 21-25, 25-23, 25-16 and 10-15) in a CCAA National Championship semi-final on Friday.
The Kings swept the Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) Blazers (25-17, 25-11 and 25-17) in a bronze quarter-final. On Sunday, the Kings kept winning, sweeping the St. Thomas Tommies (25-20, 25-18 and 25-18) in a bronze semi-final.
RDP then earned national bronze by defeating the Redeemer Royals in four sets (25-21, 25-16, 23-25 and 25-20).
“Our group was really resilient and showed a lot of growth this weekend,” said Aaron Schulha, Kings Volleyball head coach.
“We had guys playing through injury and after losing that tough first-round matchup to a very good host Limoilou team, our guys refocused very well and came together to win bronze.”
Setter Maddux Greves and Cody Boulding earned spots on the CCAA First All-Tournament team. Lower received the honour as a CCAA Second All-Tournament team selection.
The Camosun Chargers defeated the host Limoilou Titans in the gold medal match.
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