SHERBROOKE, Que. — The RDC Kings weren’t in a good mood following their 3-0 loss to the Humber Hawks of Etobicoke., Ont., during the opening day of the Canadian College men’s volleyball championships Thursday.
As a result they took their frustrations out on the University of Kings College Blue Devils of Halifax, winning the bronze medal quarter-final 25-16, 25-9, 25-11 Friday.
“We played a more complete game today with the biggest difference was our service pressure,” said Kings head coach Aaron Schulha.
“We consistently put them into trouble with our serve and that created more opportunities for us to set up a solid block.”
The Kings finished with eight aces and 13 stuff blocks, against the Atlantic Canada representative, which is normally not that competitive.
“They normally aren’t and that made a difference, but still we played with a lot of energy and everyone was enjoying themselves.
“We talked after yesterday’s match and earlier today about rebounding today and just playing our match. I think the guys showed a lot of character as players and people. It was good for the veteran players who are moving on next year to come back strong and for the returning players to show what they’re made of.”
Setter Nick Bell was named the RDC player of the match, finishing with three aces, two kills and six digs.
“He did an excellent job of spreading the ball around and running a solid offence,” added Schulha.
“He also did a great job serving and got on a number of long runs.”
The Kings face the Briercrest Bible College Clippers in today’s bronze medal semifinal at 10 a.m. (MDT). Briercrest lost 25-17, 14-25, 22-25, 25-18, 8-15 to Columbia Bible College of Abbotsford, B.C. in the A-side semifinals.
CBC will meet top-ranked UBC Okanagan of Kelowna in the final.
UBC downed Humber 23-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-22.
In the other bronze medal quarter-final Limoilou of Quebec City downed Sherbrooke 25-21, 26-28, 25-16, 25-17.
l In the women’s playoffs in Saint John, N.B., Alberta champion Mount Royal reached the final with a 3-2 win over FX Garneau and will face Vancouver Island University of Nanaimo, who beat UBC Okanagan 3-2.
Grande Prairie downed the host University of New Brunswick Saint John 3-1 to advance to the bronze medal semifinals against Garneau.