Jardine and the Queens sweep Kodiaks at RDC

Brent Forster - RDC

The Red Deer College Queens faced the Lethbridge College Kodiaks Friday evening in the RDC Main Gym, and their serving game kept the Kodiaks defence on their heels throughout the match. The Queens had many great performances and they rolled to a three set victory. 

After Miranda Dawe gave the Queens a 6-5 lead in the first set with a kill from the left side, it seemed to give RDC momentum. McKenna Barthel, from Red Deer, was effective from the service line and the right side to help the Queens go on a 9-3 run and pull ahead 15-8. The RDC Queens kept the pressure on and earned a 25-15 victory.

The Kodiaks defence seemed to have a difficult time picking up Chanelle Kayser's serve in the second set. Kayser put pressure on Lethbridge College's defence and had two service aces in the same series to give the RDC Queens a 9 point lead (15-6). Britt Davis picked up an ace late in the set and Megan Schmidt capped off a 25-10 win with a kill.

After the Queens trailed in the third set, they climbed back to tie it 7-7 with a Kayser-Schmidt block and a Miranda Dawe kill from the left side. Naomi Jardine, a Bachelor of Education student from Lacombe, pushed the Queens ahead by 8 points (19-11) with a kill from the left side. Jardine finished the match off 25-15 with a service ace.

Queens Volleyball Head Coach Chris Wandler appreciated the effort. "It was a continuation from last week. I thought that we played really well against Briercrest last weekend and we brought the same determination tonight," said Wandler. "Even though we didn't earn two W's last week, we were still in a good spot as a team and we knew that was the level that we needed to compete at for the rest of the year."

The Queens' serve was strong all match. "Our serve was on pace tonight," said Wandler. "It put the Kodiaks in a lot of difficulty and it made our defensive game that much more efficient." The RDC Queens accumulated 10 service aces. Kayser had 5 on her own. The setter from Calgary accumulated 35 assists, 2 kills and 4 digs.

Naomi Jardine was named the player-of-the-game for the Queens. Ashleigh Noel earned the award for the Kodiaks. Jardine totaled 10 kills, 3 assists and 8 digs. Noel picked up 1 kill, 14 assists and 4 digs.

"Naomi was solid - consistent. She is really good on the defensive side of things and controls the ball well," said Wandler. "That's what we needed from her coming in, and the fact that she got 10 kills, that was the bonus for us."

The second place RDC Queens (14-5) will host the third place Lethbridge College Kodiaks (10-7) on Saturday, January 27 at 1:00 p.m.