Volleyball Queens sweep Broncos in three sets

The Red Deer College Queens Volleyball team came into tonight's contest in second place in the ACAC Women's Volleyball South Division with a 5-3 record while the Olds College Broncos sat in a tie for third place with a 3-3 record. It was a familiar opponent for Queens Head Coach Chris Wandler, having been the Head Coach of the Olds College Broncos Women's Volleyball team from 2012-2016.

The Queens had a strong match and swept the Broncos in 3 straight sets.

The opening set was back and forth and not much separated the two sides. Olds College opened their largest lead by 4 points (6-2) but the Queens battled back to tie it up 7-7. After the first set was tied 19-19, the Queens started to pull away eventually winning 25-22. Leading the Queens in kills was Miranda Dawe with 8, while also adding 4 digs. 

The second set started in similar fashion. After being tied 2-2, the Broncos extended their lead 7-2. After Wandler called a time-out, the Queens went on a 7 point run to take a 9-7 lead. RDC started to pull away going up 18-10 and eventually won 25-17 to go up 2 sets to 0. For the Queens, Chanelle Kayser accumulated 9 assists, 4 service aces and 1 kill in the second set alone.

After the Broncos opened to a 10-6 lead the Queens rallied to tie the set 14-14. It was close throughout the third set but the RDC Queens pulled ahead and won 25-23 to win the match in 3 sets. 

The RDC Queens player-of-the-game was Miranda Dawe. The Kinesiology and Sport Studies student from Grande Prairie finished with 15 kills and 8 digs in 3 sets.

Queens Head Coach Chris Wandler was pleased with how the student-athletes directed their attention tonight. 

"We were focussed when we needed to be focussed," said Wandler. "We were trying to find that level between being relaxed and focussed and achieving our ideal state of playing."

Wandler thought that the passing and serving game was solid along with the ability of going on several runs.

"I thought that our serving game was much more on aim tonight," said Wandler. "We had a lot more confidence with our serving and it showed. We gave ourselves a chance to play for the point and we were on the better end of that. We talked about keeping constant pressure on the opponent and we can't do that if we miss many serves. Serving is a huge part of this game for sure."

Wandler reflected on playing his former team.

"It's always tough because you develop relationships," said Wandler. "There's a few people associated with Olds College that I spent a lot of time with. You want to compete against them but you try to treat it as another game."

The Queens remain in second place in the South Division after bumping their record up to 6-3 and next play in Olds against the Broncos Saturday, Nov. 12 at 1:00 p.m.