Kings faced adversity in Lethbridge while the Queens defeat the Kodiaks in three sets

Lethbridge, November 25, 2023 – The Red Deer Polytechnic Queens ended the first half of the season on a high as they defeated the Lethbridge College Kodiaks in three sets on back-to-back days. As for the Kings, they fell in five sets for the second consecutive day and finished the first half with a 9-2 record.

See below for more information regarding each match.

Queens Volleyball – Queens 3 at Lethbridge College Kodiaks 0

Following some great serving by right-side Rachel Perry, the Queens jumped out to a 13-4 lead in the opening set of their second match with the Kodiaks which led to a timeout called by Lethbridge. RDP was running on all cylinders in the opening set and would cruise to a 25-9 victory following a Kodiaks attacking error on set point.

Outside-hitter Lauren Junck (Bachelor of Arts in Psychology) served up the second set with three aces in her first four serves of the set to give her Queens an early 4-0 lead. Junck was also impressive throughout the match at the net and finished with six kills which was tied for the team high. Outside-hitter Rachel Perry (Business Diploma) also had six kills in the match. The Queens and Kodiaks exchanged serving errors on the final two points of the set which led to the Polytechnic walking away with a 25-17 victory in the second.

Down two sets to one, the Kodiaks started the third serving the ball well which led to an early three-point lead. But this was diminished quickly with setter Emma Letkeman (Business Diploma) going on a run from the service line. Setter Maria Brouwer (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) would add a couple of aces of her own in the late stages of the match after being subbed onto the court. Following a kill from outside-hitter Emma Holmes (Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences) on the right side of the court, the Queens would sweep the Kodiaks for the second consecutive match with a 25-13 set victory in the third.

Middle-blocker Raya Roesler (Practical Nurse Diploma) was named the Queens player of the match. She ended her weekend with four solo blocks and four kills.

That is it for the Queens in the 2023 year. They will return to action in the new year on January 13 when they host the Keyano College Huskies.

Kings Volleyball – Kings 2 at Lethbridge College Kodiaks 3

The great matchup between the Kodiaks and Kings continued this afternoon with a very energetic first set. Middle-blocker Spencer Purdie (Open Studies) gave some momentum for the time being to his team after a huge solo block on the Kodiaks top-hitter Nolan Moes. RDP had the lead for the majority of the set but Lethbridge clawed back in the late stages to tie it up at 18 which led to the Kings calling the first timeout of the match. Out of the timeout, the Kings struggled on offence which led to the Kodiaks taking a 23-21 lead. But RDP bounced back to tie it up at 23. The Kodiaks would go on a 3-1 run out of the short break to take the set 26-24.

But the Kings came out in the second set looking to avenge the first set loss. They were able to go up 16-11, however, this lead was slowly diminished by the Kodiaks and RDP found themselves up just by a couple of points in the late stages of the set. The Kings would call a timeout with a one-point lead in hopes of slowing down the Kodiaks as they were looking to gain some momentum back in the late moments of the set. But on set point number two, the Kings would tie the match up at one with a 25-23 victory off a kill from middle Owen Langberg (Open Studies).

Following an early setback in the third, the Kings bounced back to tie the match up and later take the lead following a kill from Purdie who had an outstanding match in the middle position for the Kings. He finished with 11 kills which was match-high out of middle position. From that point on, the teams went kill-for-kill during the middle portion of the set, but the Kodiaks took the all-important two-point lead in the late stages of the third which led to a timeout. Out of the short break, Lethbridge earned the next two points to take the set 25-20.

Like they have done the whole match, the Kings were able to jump out to a hot start after dropping the set before and found themselves up 17-13 which forced the Kodiaks to call a timeout. Lethbridge College would gain a few points on the Kings but RDP managed to pull away with a 25-18 victory to force a fifth set following an attacking error by the Kodiaks.

Lethbridge College would take the early lead in the final set of the doubleheader and the 2023 calendar year for these two teams. As they swapped sides at eight, the Kings were down by just one. It was looking like RDP was down and out but a huge solo block by outside-hitter Noah Carlson on Moes brought some momentum to the Kings side of the court. But a few points later, Moes would end it with a kill out of the back row to defeat the Kings in five sets with a final score of 15-13 in the fifth.

Noah Carlson was named the Kings player of the match for his outstanding offensive performance in the front and back row for his team. He finished with a team-high 22 kills while earning 27 points in the loss.

The Kings next regular season match will take place in the new year when they host the Keyano College Huskies on January 13.