Queens 3 Trojans 0
The RDC Queens wanted to send a message when they took to the court against the SAIT Trojans Saturday evening.
After suffering their first loss of the Alberta Colleges Women’s Volleyball League season at SAIT Friday, it was important for them to come back strong at home Saturday.
They did just that, whipping the Trojans 25-12, 25-17, 25-10.
“From our stand point we did what we were supposed to do when it didn’t work out for us yesterday,” said Queens head coach Talbot Walton.
“We came back and played really well and sent a message, not only to SAIT, but the rest of the league that if you’re going to squeak something out against us you better be sure every variable is lined up perfectly. If not then we’re able to control it.”
Walton wasn’t about to use the fact that bad road conditions played a role in the Queens 3-2 loss Friday. The RDC bus didn’t arrive until 5:55 p.m., five minutes before the first serve.
But instead of grumbling about the loss Walton used it as a learning experience.
“We talked about it that sometimes experiences taught are better than talked about,” he said. “It was a painful lesson, yet a valuable one.”
What bothered Walton more than anything was the fact the team played afraid to lose rather than excited to win, he said.
“That’s something we can look back on and learn from,” he said.
On Saturday the Queens did everything right. Their passing was sharp and when it wasn’t setter Bronwyn Hawkes was able to turn it into a perfect set. They also served tough, missing only four serves in the three sets, and three of those came in the first set.
They also were in the right position defensively and at the net.
“When we play some of the better teams we seem to play better the second day after we’ve seen them once. We react better and defend better,” said Walton.
“We have to realize our defensive positioning is what it is and to stand in the spots and make the digs rather than to be in between and guess. Tonight our middle blockers had a good feel on what SAIT was trying to do and they had a better read today as our serving was batter.”
Amber Adolf had 10 kills, four digs and an ace for RDC while Karissa Kuhr had five kills, 12 digs and a stuff block. Brooke Sutter had five kills and seven digs with libero Maddi Quinn chipping in with 15 digs.
Megan Schmidt had three kills, two aces, two digs and a block and Shelby Bramall had two kills, an ace, three digs and two blocks.
Megan Brennan had 10 kills and seven digs for SAIT.
The Queens face Grant MacEwan University Friday at RDC and Saturday in Edmonton. They need one win to wrap up first place. The Queens sit at 17-1 with Grande Prairie and GMU at 15-3.
Kings 3 Trojans 0
For the second straight day the Kings beat the Trojans 23-0, but it wasn’t as easy as it looked.
The Trojans gave the Kings all they could handle in the third set before the RDC squad pulled out a 25-14, 25-19, 25-23 victory.
In fact the Kings trailed for most of the third set until tying it at 22-22.
“You never want to be down 7-2, but it was nice to see the guys chip away and battle back,” said Kings head coach Aaron Schulha.
“We were also able to give Tim (Finnigan) a break and then he back fresh and did what he had to do.”
Finnigan had eight kills in the third set, including a back row kill on the final point.
Schulha was also able to go to his bench more than once to give his starters a rest.
In fact Mike Goetz and was solid defensively down the stretch.
“The first five games this weekend against them were fairly easy, everything was running smoothly, so it was easy to stay focused and energized,” said Schulha.
“But it’s nice to see the way we were able to fight when everything is less than perfect. It shows the benefits of our depth as well.”
The Kings need at least a split with GMU to secure first place as they look toward the ACAC championship, set for Feb. 21-23 at RDC.
“We’re going in the right direction, and this weekend was a good test for us. Hopefully we get two more Ws next week, not because of our record, but to keep the momentum and keep us sharp heading into the playoffs.”
GMU comes in with a 17-1 record.
Braden O’Toole had 14 kills and seven digs for the Kings while Finnigan finished with 13 kills, seven digs and three aces.
Chris Osborn had eight kills, two digs and a block, Chris Jones six kills and seven digs and Sam Brisbane six digs and an ace.
Jon Morley had 10 kills for SAIT.
In other women’s action Olds downed Lethnbridge 3-0.
drode@www.reddeeradvocate.com