Barthel leads with fourteen kills, but Kodiaks edge Queens in five sets

Brent Forster - RDC

Entering Friday's match between the Red Deer College Queens and Lethbridge College Kodiaks, volleyball fans anticipated a close contest in Lethbridge as each team held a 3-1 record. The match featured several shifts in momentum and, as expected, not much separated the two squads. After the Queens won the first set, the teams alternated wins over the next three sets. The Kodiaks eventually took the fifth set and the match.

The RDC Queens started the opening set strongly. The Kodiaks tried to claw back in the late stages but the Queens earned a 25-20 win. Lethbridge College began the second set on a 5-0 run but RDC battled back to tie it at 11. When the Kodiaks went up by 5 points (22-17), the Queens made things interesting and evened the set at 23. Eventually the Lethbridge College Kodiaks picked up a close 25-23 victory. In the third set, Hanna Delemont put the RDC Queens up 5-1 with an ace. Megan Schmidt served up another ace which gave RDC a 5 point cushion (19-14). Lethbridge College climbed back to even things up 24-24 but RDC showed persistence and capped off the set 26-24. After the fourth set was tied 16-16, Lethbridge College outscored the Queens 9-4 and picked up a 25-20 win. As expected, the fifth set was close. After the final set was tied 6-6, the Kodiaks went on a 9-5 run for a 15-11 win.

McKenna Barthel was named the RDC Queens player-of-the-game. The Business Administration (Human Resources) student accumulated 14 kills, 13 digs and 1 stuff block. Miranda Dawe and Megan Schmidt picked up 11 kills each. Hanna Delemont led the Queens with 2 service aces. Chanelle Kayser, a Bachelor of Science (Nursing) student, contributed 34 assists, 1 kill, 1 service ace, 1 stuff block and 8 digs for RDC.

For the Kodiaks, Kristine Ward and Corissa Mildenberger had 11 kills each. Ashleigh Noel was chosen as the Kodiaks player-of-the-game, and totaled 34 assists, 3 kills, 3 service aces, 10 digs and 1 stuff block.

Queens Volleyball Head Coach Chris Wandler was disappointed with the team's consistency in the road match. "It was a very inconsistent performance tonight which I didn't expect," said Wandler. "Tomorrow, we need to improve and play consistently in every facet of the game."

The Kodiaks (4-1) will host the Queens (3-2) on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.