Lehman and RDP Kings Volleyball team sweep Lethbridge College Kodiaks at home

Brent Forster – Red Deer Polytechnic Athletics

Red Deer, AB – The Red Deer Polytechnic Kings Volleyball team continued its winning ways Sunday afternoon.

In a weekend rematch against the Lethbridge College Kodiaks, the Kings controlled most of the match and dropped the visitors in three sets (25-17, 25-15 and 26-24).

"It's always nice as a coach when you win a match, but you still feel like you have lots to work on and that was evident today," said Aaron Schulha, Red Deer Polytechnic Kings Volleyball Head Coach. "I thought we were in control for a lot of it. They bailed us out some of time, in terms of missed serves and that type of stuff. They are down a couple of their starters with injuries, so I'm sure we will see them later on."

The Kodiaks recorded 11 service errors, along with two aces.

RDP setter Maddux Greves' serving prowess was on display early in the first set. With the Kings trailing 2-1, Greves went on a run from the service line, recording three aces and lifting the home team to an 8-2 lead.

"He is incredible. In our last exhibition match against Augustana, I think we went up 12-0 from his serve in the first set. He's capable of taking over the match right from the jump," explained Schulha. "He's got a great hand on him which isn't rare to see from a setter. He's really quite consistent and when he does that early in the match, it really sets the tone."

As the set continued, Greves found outside hitters Reece Lehman (four kills), first-year Brett Lower (three kills), Patrik Toze (one kill), and middle Dillon Gauci (three kills) to help cap off a 25-17 win.

Gauci (18)

Maddux Greves continued to spread the ball around in the second set, finding his outside hitters, along with middle Dillon Gauci. The diversity of the offence kept the Kodiaks' defenders on their heels and the Kings earned a 25-15 decision. Over the pair of sets, Reece Lehman led Red Deer Polytechnic with seven kills. Jackson Gaehring powered the visitors with six.

The Kings applied some service pressure in the third set. Maddux Greves, Cody Boulding, and Dillon Gauci picked up aces. Red Deer Polytechnic sealed the third set 26-24, sweeping Lethbridge College.

"The final stats don't show it, but I felt we missed a lot of serves a key times but our ace to error ratio was nearly one to one, so you can't really ask for much more than that as a coach," said Schulha of the 12 team aces and 11 errors from the service line. "Little things – they out dug us, which shouldn't be the case. I think we are a pretty good defending team and we always want to outwork a team. The defensive coverage piece is big for us."

Lehman (9)

The Kodiaks had 25 digs and the Kings finished with 20.

Reece Lehman was recognized as the North Star Sports Kings Player of the Game. He contributed nine kills, six digs, one ace, and one stuff block.

"Reece did some good things – struggled on receive a little bit, but had high hitting efficiency (0.500) and did some things on the blocking and defensive end of things," said Schulha.

Six-foot-eight Dillon Gauci had five kills, three stuff blocks, and one ace.

"I thought Dillon was pretty dominant in the middle again, for two matches in a row," said Schulha.

First-year Brett Lower totaled seven kills, four digs, one assist, and one ace.

"Brett did a good job on the right side as a first-year kid. We started Brett down in Lethbridge," said Schulha. "He struggled early and then later in the match - they are a pretty solid blocking team - he used the block to his advantage in terms of high hands and chipping it off the sides. He really did a solid job as a first-year especially against an athletic, big blocking team, so we expect he will continue to grow."

Lower has shown some similarities to the 2019/2020 ACAC Men's Volleyball South Rookie of the Year.

"There's definitely some comparisons to Carter [Hills]– both lefty spin servers and all that stuff," said Schulha. "Carter was really inconsistent to start his first year, as well, and kept climbing and I expect the same from Brett."

Kodiaks' Jackson Gaehring, who was Lethbridge's Player of the Match, played a solid game for the visitors. Gaehring contributed 13 kills, seven digs, one stuff block, and one ace, while finishing with an impressive 0.550 hitting percentage.

On Friday, November 19, the Red Deer Polytechnic Kings Volleyball team (2-0) will play the Olds College Broncos (1-1) on the road at 6 pm. 

Boulding (7)