Dawe and Queens push Clippers to five but drop close decision

Brent Forster – RDC

Red Deer, AB – The RDC College Queens pushed the number one team in the south, the Briercrest College Clippers, to five sets (26-28, 25-20, 14-25, 25-23 and 6-15) but couldn't pull out the win.

"We should have won," says Queens Head Coach Chris Wandler. "We really had opportunities in that first set to set the tone of the match."

The RDC Queens came out strong at home, going up by eight (16-8). During that stretch, Queens' middle Alexandria Greenshields applied service pressure with three consecutive balls. The Clippers started to close the gap in the latter half of the set, going on a 15-7 run to even it up 23-23. Briercrest College used that momentum, capping off a 28-26 decision. Jade Van Dyke led the Queens with five kills from the left side. For Briercrest College, Justine Collin had four.

Jade Van Dyke (13) Colby Brochu Photography

In a close beginning to the second, the Queens' Emma Holmes knotted it up 9-9 from the right. Despite Becky Garner putting down three kills for the Clippers, the Queens eventually went up by five (19-14). Briercrest College tried to close the gap once again, pulling within one (20-21) but that was as close as they would get in the set. RDC finalized the victory with a 4-0 run. Over both sets, Queens' setter Natalie Bloemen recorded 20 assists and Clippers' setter Ashley Erickson had 22.

Katrina Dawe (8) Colby Brochu Photography

After Katrina Dawe pulled the Queens within three (8-11), the Clippers went 5-0 (16-8) with the help of service pressure from Justine Collin, who had one ace during that run. Briercrest College continued to press, picking up a 25-14 win. Emma Holmes led the Queens' offence with a total of 11 kills over the trio of sets. Becky Garner and Mia Harder shared top spot for the Clippers with 11 kills each.

"We made it a lot more difficult on ourselves at times and we struggled in that third set to keep the momentum that we had developed. It was tough for us tonight," says Wandler. "Tough is okay, as long as it goes towards the learning piece moving forward and that's a big thing for us the past ten matches – keep on learning. Hopefully all of that pays off."

Britt Davis (7) Colby Brochu Photography

McKenna Olson provided RDC an early 8-6 margin with a kill down the middle. After back-and-forth play and both teams even on several occasions, Justine Collin eventually gave the Clippers a three point edge (20-17) with an ace. The Queens persisted and bounced back, earning a 25-23 victory.

Colby Brochu Photography

From the right, Emma Holmes tied the fifth set 3-3 and then Becky Garner went on a string of serves, providing Briercrest College a 7-3 edge. The Clippers continued to press and sealed a 15-6 win, taking the match.

"We disappointed ourselves in the fifth set. We lost track, focus and got very internal," says Wandler.  "Odds are, teams who win the fourth set usually do very well in the fifth and I liked our chances, but it didn't end up that way."

Katrina Dawe was named the Queens Player-of-the-Game, totaling 13 kills, 16 digs and three aces. Mia Harder received the award for the Clippers, accumulating 18 kills, 11 digs, four stuff blocks and two aces.

"Overall, Katrina played solid," says Wandler. "From a defensive point of view, serving piece, receive piece, and that's the expectations as a third-year - is to be consistent with that."

The Clippers had strong performances from their outside attackers. "We couldn't stop some of their attackers - Mia on the right with 18 (kills) and Becky on the left with 18," says Wandler. "Other than that I think we did a pretty good job but our blockers couldn't adjust to the angle."

On Saturday, the RDC Queens (10-7) will host the Briercrest College Clippers (13-2) at 1:00 p.m. at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre.