Trojans shade Kings in five sets
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Red Deer College (9-8, 9-8) | 25 | 25 | 16 | 20 | 9 | 2 |
|
SAIT Polytechnic (15-2, 15-2) | 17 | 18 | 25 | 25 | 15 | 3 |
Brent Forster - RDC
Saturday in Calgary, the RDC Volleyball Kings opened strongly and pushed the south leading SAIT Trojans to the limit, but dropped a close five set match.
The Red Deer College Kings opened with 25-17 and 25-18 wins in the first two sets. An experienced SAIT Trojans squad took the next two sets 25-16 and 25-20 to send the match to an exciting fifth and final set. The Kings battled but the Trojans capped off the match with a 15-9 fifth set win.
Hamish Hazelden led the Kings with 13 kills. The 6'7" Kinesiology & Sport Studies student added 1 assist, 2 service aces, 2 stuff blocks and 6 digs. Spencer Coulter was the Trojans' leader with 24 kills. Coulter added 1 service ace and 6 digs.
Evan Parchomchuk, from Prince Albert, contributed 10 kills, while teammates Adam Turlejski and Mark DeWit had 9 kills each for the Kings. RDC setter Thomas Wass totaled 38 assists, 2 kills, 2 service aces, 3 stuff blocks and 6 digs.
As a team, the RDC Kings picked up 9 service aces while the SAIT Trojans had 6.
Kings Head Coach Aaron Schulha liked the improved effort and the start to the match. "It was a better effort tonight for sure. I thought that we came out aggressive and forced the Trojans into some trouble which was nice to see. They outperformed us later in the match, and in particular later in the last three sets," said Schulha. "Thomas Wass ran a pretty solid offence and his connection with Hamish Hazelden looked better. Our service pressure and blocking looked more crisp. It was disappointing to play so well for the first two sets and then not really give them much of a push after that."
The Red Deer College Volleyball Kings (9-7) will compete against the Briercrest College Clippers (11-5) next weekend in a pair of matches on the road. On Friday, January 19, the Clippers will host the Kings at 8:00 p.m. The two teams will hit the court again on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. The Kings are tied for third spot in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Men's Volleyball South Division with the Lethbridge College Kodiaks and the Medicine Hat College Rattlers. All three teams have 18 points. The Clippers sit in second spot with 22 points while the Trojans continue to lead with 28 points.