Rattlers edge Kings in 5 sets in Medicine Hat

Volleyball fans had Friday's matchup circled on their calendar for a while now. It featured 2 of the top teams in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) and Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). The Red Deer College Kings Volleyball team is ranked 5th and the Medicine Hat College Rattlers are 10th in the CCAA. For much of the season, the RDC Kings have dealt with a string of injuries but they are getting some key student-athletes back healthy. After the RDC Kings took the opening 2 sets in Medicine Hat, the Rattlers capitalized on errors and won the next 3 sets.

The Kings opened to a 25-23 victory in the 1st set and 28-26 win in the 2nd set. The Rattlers took the next 3 sets to win the match (25-21, 25-16 and 17-15).

Regan Fathers led the RDC Kings with 26 kills. The Kinesiology and Sport Studies student added 2 assists, 7 digs and 1 stuff block. Luke Brisbane picked up 46 assists, 1 service ace, 2 stuff blocks and 15 digs for RDC. Joel Kotyk led Medicine Hat College with 19 kills.

Kings Volleyball Head Coach Aaron Schulha would like to see improved decision making and less errors in the rematch on Saturday afternoon.

"It was a hard fought match but we had no business being with them at the end with many unforced errors," said Schulha. "We fought hard when we were down but failed to make smart choices at critical points and just simply didn't look after the ball. We will have to be significantly better in all areas tomorrow."

The Red Deer College Kings remain in 2nd place in the ACAC Men's Volleyball South Division with 32 points.

In a rematch, the Rattlers (18-3) host the Kings (16-5) Saturday at 3:00 p.m.