Clippers 3 Kings 0
EDMONTON — The RDC Kings weren’t at their best and they needed to be to stay with the Briercrest Bible College Clippers in the Alberta Colleges Men’s Volleyball League final at The King’s University College Sunday afternoon.
The Kings came out a bit flat and the Clippers took advantage rolling to a 25-20, 25-15, 25-23 victory.
“We didn’t play as well as we did Saturday (a 3-1 win over the NAIT Ooks) while Briercrest played great,” said Kings head coach Aaron Schulha. “They weren’t as good Saturday (in a 3-1 win) against King’s, so we felt we had a good chance against them, but we didn’t execute like we can and they were at the top of their game.”
The Kings were playing without middle blocker Sean Tuff, who injured his ankle against NAIT.
“The guys did a great job Saturday in stepping up to fill in for Sean, but today they (Clippers) beat us up in the middle,” Schulha explained. “The thing was we didn’t serve that well and they passed extremely well so they were able to run their offence.
The Kings also seemed to run out of gas just a bit.
“Taylor (Hunt) seemed to wear down a bit and we need him to be going 100 per cent.”
Still Hunt led the Kings with 16 kills, five digs and an ace and Darcee Froese had eight kills and an ace.
“It sucks to get silver, but our goal at the beginning of the season was to win nationals and we still have a chance . . . it’s a new season,” added Schulha.
The top two teams advanced to the national finals, which runs March 10-12 in Sherbrooke, Que.
“That’s a big step up for us,” said Schulha. “My first year here we lost to Briercrest in the semifinals, then the last two years lost in the first round. We’ll take this and look to improve that much more at the nationals. I know everyone’s excited about it.”
Queens 3 Rustlers 1
CALGARY — The RDC Queens captured bronze in the women’s playoffs with a 25-18, 25-20, 22-25, 25-19 victory over the Lakeland College Rustlers at Mount Royal University Sunday afternoon.
Robyn Denney was named the Queens player of the match with eight kills and 17 digs.
“It was a good match for her considering it was her final match of her college career,” said Queens head coach Talbot Walton. “In fact it was a good match for all the girls who are graduating. They came out with a lot of emotion in the first two sets and played with confidence in that they were going to win. We got ahead of ourselves a bit in the third, but we regained our composure in the fourth.
“It was a great final match for the girls leaving and a boost for the returning girls. They got a taste of what it’s like to win something which should carry over to next season.”
Mount Royal won gold, beating Grande Prairie 3-2.