Lehman and RDP Kings drop visiting Broncos in four sets

Brent Forster - Red Deer Polytechnic Athletics

Red Deer, AB – Led by outside hitter Reece Lehman's 13 kills, the Red Deer Polytechnic Kings Volleyball team powered past the Olds College Broncos in four sets (23-25, 25-20, 25-22 and 25-9).

"It was scrappy again. The first three sets we just had to grind it out. It felt a lot like yesterday," said Aaron Schulha, Red Deer Polytechnic Kings Volleyball Head Coach. "They are a much better team and will win a lot of matches this year, from what we've seen and heard from other coaches. They are well coached."

In the first set, the Broncos jumped out to a 13-10 lead with kills from Reed Grusing, Phillip Sutherland, and Haiden Hurtig. Kings Head Coach Aaron Schulha called a timeout which provided the home team a bit of a spark. Service pressure from RDP setter Maddux Greves, which included an ace, tied the set 21-21, but Broncos Braden Bates eventually capped off the set 25-23.

"It was frustrating to see the way that we came out after having a somewhat disappointing 3-0 win yesterday where we felt that we didn't put our best foot forward," said Schulha. "Coming home, we talked about doing a lot of things better and it didn't start out that way."

Lower (5)

Kings first-year outside hitter Brett Lower went on a string of four consecutive serves (one ace) in the second set which helped the home team take a slight 10-9 edge. Broncos six-foot-three outside hitter Reed Grusing kept the visitors close with a pair of kills, but it wasn't enough. Brett Lower finalized the set 25-20 for the Polytechnic with a kill from the right side.

Kings outside hitter Reece Lehman pushed the Kings ahead 11-9 in the third set with a kill from the left, which was his seventh of the match. In a back and forth set, Olds College six-foot-five middle Braden Bates gave the visitors a temporary 17-16 edge, but the Kings eventually pulled away. Three late kills from Reece Lehman helped solidify a 25-22 RDP win.

Lehman (9)

In the fourth set, the Kings roared out to a 10-1 edge with more service pressure from Maddux Greves. The home team kept the heat on, sealing the fourth set 25-9.

Greves (4)

"It was nice to see us finish with an imposing game and to see Maddux go off on the service line later on in the match was nice. We had a tough time cracking their serve-receive early on tonight and even yesterday," said Schulha.

"They don't pass many zeros as a team, so they were keeping the ball in play a lot of the time. We were finally able to crack them in the third and for a good chunk of the fourth from the service line. That was nice to see, but a little bit too late for my liking."  

Reece Lehman was named the North Star Sports Kings Player of the Game. The Bachelor of Kinesiology student led the Polytechnic with 13 kills. He added three digs, two aces, one stuff block and hit for 0.296 per cent efficiency.

"Reece did a good job. He fought it a little bit yesterday, like most of the guys down in Olds," explained Schulha. "Then he really started coming along, especially on some trouble balls where he was attacking that line, line-seam side really with a lot of effectiveness and started to get more balls in rhythm late. He really ramped his game up and was a big reason why we were able to pull it out in four." 

Reed Grusing received top honours for the Broncos and finished with a 0.217 hitting percentage. Grusing totaled nine kills, five digs and one stuff block.

Broncos setter Thomas Pugsley had 23 assists, five digs and one kill.

Red Deer Polytechnic outside hitters Patrik Toze (12 kills) and Brett Lower (11 kills) made significant contributions in the home win. Middles Cody Boulding (five kills) and Dillon Gauci (four kills) were solid at the net. Libero Jonathan (JJ) Graham accumulated eight digs for the Kings.

Maddux Greves had 35 assists and four of the Kings' 10 service aces. Phillip Sutherland recorded two of the Broncos' three aces, along with six kills.

"It was nice to see at the end that we were able to finally impose our game, but the fact that we played one imposing set out of seven this weekend means we have a lot to work on still," said Schulha.

"We can be somewhat pleased with getting two more victories and being 4-0 at this point, but the guys know that where we want to go come February and March, there's a long way to go and a lot to work on still."

The Olds College Broncos (1-3) are back in action on Thursday, November 25 when they face the Lethbridge College Kodiaks (2-2) in Olds at 6 pm.

On Friday, November 26, the Red Deer Polytechnic Kings (4-0) will host the Medicine Hat College Rattlers (0-2) at 6 pm.