Graham and RDC Kings clip Briercrest College

Brent Forster - RDC

Red Deer, AB – In a match that went the distance, the Red Deer College Kings found a way to beat the Briercrest College Clippers in five sets (25-10, 20-25, 25-21, 28-30 and 15-4).

"It was a pretty good all-around match," said Kings Head Coach Aaron Schulha. "They're a good team. There's a lot of positives, but it was a longer night than it needed to be in a lot of ways." 

Carter Hills and Karym Coleman were the offensive engines that drove their teams. Hills accumulated 21 kills, four digs, three stuff blocks, one ace and swung for a 0.594 hitting percentage for RDC. Coleman recorded 21 kills, two digs, one ace and a stuff block, while finishing with a 0.357 hitting percentage for Briercrest College. 

Hills (4)

After a hot Kings' start, the Clippers responded in the second set. 

"We talked a lot the last few weeks about eliminating the extreme peaks and valleys. After beating a good team 25-10, you have to expect them to push back and we just didn't do that," explained Schulha.

"They played much better in the second and the things that made us successful in the first, we did the opposite. They started to dig in deep and they were digging a lot of balls and it seemed like all of those longer rallies in the fourth, they were winning later on." 

The Kings dominated the fifth set 15-4, winning their seventh consecutive match.

"For us to react the way that we did is a good thing. They have those two significant weapons, but they're one middle, Alvarez, did a much better job than what we scouted," stated Schulha. "We knew that he is a good veteran player for them, but he was a bit of a game-changer from the offensive end and as well getting a few block touches."

Bryton Codd had 12 kills for Briercrest College. Javier Alvarez added eight kills and four stuffs.

Libero Jonathan (JJ) Graham was named Collegiate Sports Medicine Kings Player-of-the-Game, stacking up 13 digs and one assist. Clippers Player-of-the-Game Jeremy Martens had 45 assists, six digs and one stuff.

Toze (11)

Patrik Toze picked up 17 kills for RDC. Middle Cody Boulding fired nine. Setter Thomas Wass contributed 49 assists, seven digs, six kills, three aces and one stuff.

"JJ had a great match. Tom was really solid, went on a couple of key serving runs for us," said Schulha. "Pat and Carter stepped up when it mattered. Our middles blocked pretty well too."

Middles Cody Boulding (four) and Mark DeWit (three) had seven of the Kings' 13 stuff blocks.

The Kings served up six aces. The Clippers had a pair.

On Saturday at 3:00 pm, the seventh nationally ranked RDC Kings (17-4) and Clippers (14-7) will play a rematch at RDC. Both teams have solidified spots in the postseason.

"We will have to game plan a little bit differently tomorrow, but it's a good hard match that we haven't had in a couple weeks," said Schulha. "It was nice to see us finish strong like that."