Trojans down Queens in five sets

Brent Forster – RDC

Red Deer, AB – After the RDC Queens won the first two sets (25 – 18 and 25 – 22), the SAIT Trojans started to roll and picked up the final three sets (25 – 7, 25 – 23 and 15 – 9) for the match victory at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre.

The Queens had a great start. With effective service pressure from Natalie Bloemen and Sydney Rix, along with contributions from a variety of student-athletes, the RDC Queens took a 4 point edge (15 – 11). RDC built on their lead with kills from Erin Neufeldt and Katrina Dawe (20 – 14). Eventually, a back-set from Natalie Bloemen found Emma Holmes on the right side who recorded a kill to finalize a 25 – 18 win.

Sydney Rix (4)  Colby Brochu Photography

After the Trojans jumped out an early lead in the second set, the Queens chipped away and knotted the it up 8 – 8 with a powerful kill from Erin Neufeldt on the left side. An ace from Sydney Rix and an Emma Holmes-Alexandria Greenshields block pushed RDC ahead 19 – 16. The three point margin held up as Katrina Dawe capped it off 25 - 22.

With hopes of avoiding the sweep, SAIT began the third set on a 5 – 0 run. The Trojans expanded their lead and secured a 25 – 7 result.

In the fourth, the Trojans pushed to an early 9 – 4 edge but the Queens battled back. On the strength of a pair of kills from Emma Holmes, RDC evened the set 10 – 10. The remainder was back-and-forth but the Trojans eventually grabbed the set 25- 23.

In the fifth, Katrina Dawe applied some early service pressure on the Trojans and Britt Davis provided a 1 point lead (6 – 5) with a strong kill from the left side. Then, SAIT came on and completed a 15 – 9 win.

Kaylee Domoney was named the Queens Player-of-the-Game, accumulating 9 digs and 2 assists.

Kaylee Domoney (3)  Colby Brochu Photography

Katrina Dawe led the way offensively for RDC with 14 kills. Emma Holmes had 8 kills and Sydney Rix totaled 6. Setter Natalie Bloemen contributed 30 assists, 4 digs and 1 kill. As a team, the Queens had 7 service aces.

Jadyn Leong was the Trojans' main weapon, stacking up 21 kills.

Queens Volleyball Head Coach Chris Wandler didn't like the performance. "We didn't play well. It's been three weekends with the same bad habits that creep in," he says. "I've given ample opportunity for someone to play and nobody is taking it."

When the Trojans took the third set, Wandler felt that the Queens sat back instead of keeping their foot on the gas. "We were still up 2 – 1. We did not play the aggressive piece that we needed," he says. "It was all defensive and the same story that it's been the last three weekends. They have to learn from it."

Next weekend, the Red Deer College Queens (1 - 5) will host the Medicine Hat College Rattlers (3 - 1) in a pair of matches at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre. On Friday, November 2, the two teams will hit the court at 6:00 p.m. Then on Saturday, the squads will go head-to-head at 1:00 p.m.