Stime and Kings down Lions in straight sets at home

Brent Forster – RDC

Red Deer, AB – After a tight opening set (25-23), the RDC Kings expanded their margin of victory in each of the final two sets (25-16 and 25-15) over the visiting Ambrose University Lions, capturing a sweep at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre. 

The RDC Kings roared ahead 5-0 but the Lions fought back to knot it up. With various swings in momentum, the Kings jumped ahead by four (13-9). Kills from Regan Fathers, Ben Holmes and Mark DeWit down the stretch helped the Kings seal a 25-23 victory.

Ben Holmes (10) Colby Brochu Photography

"We've been putting a lot of pressure on our guys to come out of the gates quickly. We've been a slow starting team for a lot of this first semester and we did a great job of that for the first five points. They were super clean, and then we let them back in with five of their own," says Aaron Schulha, Kings Head Coach. "We built a lead in the middle of the first set and then let them back in again. It was nice to squeak it out but we have to find a way to sustain that after we worked that hard to build a solid lead."

The second set was even 5-5 until RDC went on a 9-4 run (14-9). At times, the Lions put up a triple block in an attempt to limit the Kings' offence, and Ambrose University recorded 6 block assists over both sets. An ace from Ben Holmes and kills from Regan Fathers cemented a 25-16 decision. Over two sets, the Kings had 4 service aces.

JJ Graham (18) Colby Brochu Photography

In the third, Jonathan (JJ) Graham gave the Kings a two point margin (6-4) from the left. The Kings continued to press and a dump ball from Thomas Wass propelled RDC up by eight (13-5). The Kings built on their lead and completed a 25-15 win, taking the match in straight sets.

Isaiah Stime was named the Kings Player-of-the-Game, finishing with 7 digs and 1 assist. Carter McLenahan received the honour for the Lions, totaling 11 digs and 1 assist.

"They are a scrappy team. Carter (McLenahan) had a really good match and I was happy that he got player-of-the-game for them. They were digging a lot of balls and we made a few too many errors to make that first set close," says Schulha. "For us to only hit about 23 per cent efficiency as a group in a three set win tells you that it wasn't a super clean match. Our serving was sporadic at times with too many misses. Some guys that have been super consistent made a few uncharacteristic errors but you can't complain about a three set win too much. There were some good things but aspects that we need to clean up tomorrow." 

The Kings had 5 aces and missed 12 serves. Offensively, Regan Fathers led the way with 17 kills. Ben Holmes accumulated 9. 

"Isaiah Stime was really solid on the passing end of things. He seemed to touch a lot of stuff coming in his direction. Some of that had to do with our attackers having too many errors but he's been really good for us so far this year," says Schulha. "It's really nice to have two veteran liberos in our league that we can flop in and out. Chris Petersen came in and did his job as a serving sub, but Isaiah has been really solid for us, and I expect him to be that way from here on out."

Thomas Wass (3) Colby Brochu Photography

After missing several weeks due to injury, Steven Keating was back in uniform and received some playing time. "Steve got cleared and is jumping as he was before he had the injury, so it's nice to have him back for sure," says Schulha. "Next week, it will look pretty normal for us and we will train our butts off over the next three weeks or so, leading into the Christmas break. We have to look after tomorrow first."

The Lions (2-7) will host the Kings (7-4) on Saturday, November 17 at 8:00 p.m.