Dawe and Queens down Kodiaks in three sets

Brent Forster - RDC

In an afternoon rematch, the Red Deer College Volleyball Queens hosted the Lethbridge College Kodiaks Saturday, and the serving from the Queens was on par once again as it played a big role in the three set victory. 

The Queens' serving prowess made an impact early. When the Queens were up 12-7, Hanna Delemont, a middle blocker from Red Deer, served up three consecutive aces to give RDC a 15-7 edge. Shortly after, McKenna Barthel had two aces of her own to push the RDC squad ahead by 10 points (18-8). The Queens eventually won 25-13.

The Kodiaks had a four point lead (9-5) in the second set but a timeout from Chris Wandler, head coach of the Queens, seemed to spark RDC. Miranda Dawe had a pair of kills from the left side and Megan Schmidt served up an ace to tie the set 12-12. Then Barthel took over from the service line. The two aces from the Business Administration Human Resources student gave the Queens a 20-16 edge. Eventually, RDC capped off the set 25-19.

After the third set was knotted up 7-7 the RDC Queens began to pull away with strong efforts from several student-athletes. Miranda Dawe recorded another kill from the left side and Hanna Delemont picked up a stuff block to help extend RDC's lead to 16-12. The Queens outscored the Kodiaks 9-7 to finalize a 25-19 win.

As a team, the Queens finished with 14 service aces. Katrina Dawe and McKenna Barthel had 7 kills each for RDC. Megan Schmidt had 5. Setter Chanelle Kayser accumulated 31 assists, 3 service aces, 5 digs and 1 block assist.

Miranda Dawe was chosen as the player-of-the-game for the Queens while Kristine Ward received the honour for the Kodiaks. Dawe, from Grande Prairie, accumulated 15 kills, 1 assist, 1 stuff block, 2 block assists and 10 digs. Ward totaled 10 kills, 1 assist and 4 digs. 

Wandler was pleased with Dawe's play and the Queens' balanced attack. "Miranda had 15 kills tonight but it didn't look like she had an incredible volume because the offence was balanced similar to last night," said Wandler. "Chanelle Kayser did a good job of spreading out the offence."

Wandler liked the effort and level of execution. "I thought that it was a good continuation from last night. Our serve led the way - it was pretty dominant with 14 aces. We haven't served the ball that well all season so it was good to get that on track," said Wandler. "We've been working on that the whole season, trying to find the right tempo and speed to put other teams in distress."

The RDC Queens will use their week off to balance rest and practice. "We have a bye week coming up so we get to rest the bodies and take care of those little injuries. It gives us a chance to work on those little tidbits," said Wandler. "We have ACAC championships in three weeks so we want to clean those things up for the end of the month."

The second place RDC Queens (15-5) will compete against the third place Ambrose University Lions (10-7), Thursday, February 8 at 6:00 p.m. on the road. Saturday, the Queens will host the Lions at 6:00 p.m. in the RDC Main Gym. Both teams are 8-2 in their past 10 matches.