Kings and Queens finish their weekend with a perfect record against the Rattlers
Red Deer, January 20, 2024 – The Red Deer Polytechnic Queens made quick work of the Medicine Hat College Rattlers on Saturday afternoon as they won in three straight sets to end their weekend on a six-set winning streak.
On the men's side, the Kings fell in set number two but bounced back with wins in the third and fourth sets to complete the weekend sweep of the Rattlers.
See below for more information regarding each match.
Queens Volleyball – Medicine Hat College Rattlers 0 at Queens 3
It was quite the first set between these two teams in the second game of the doubleheader this weekend as in the early stages the Queens and Rattlers were exchanging kill-for-kill to keep it nice and close. But after a 4-1 run by the home team, the visitors called a timeout as they faced a 13-10 deficit. The Queens took the first set 25-18 following outside-hitter Jaiden Ferguson's (Business Administration) fourth kill of the set.
Following her fifth kill of the match, outside-hitter Lauren Junck (Bachelor of Arts in Psychology) served three in a row to give the Queens a small two-point lead in the early stages of the set. In this sequence, she also earned her first service ace of the match. Following their timeout, Medicine Hat College would earn the next three points backed by middle Anica Haberstock (Bachelor of Education) at the service line and make it a one point game. The Rattlers battled to tie it at 23 which forced the Queens to call a timeout. The visitors even took a 24-23 lead out of the short break with a huge block from outside hitter Jaivyn Barabe (Bachelor of Science). But the Queens would earn the next three points in the game and take the set 26-24 following a Medicine Hat College attack error.
After giving up the first point of the third set, the Queens would go on a six point run while middle Raya Roesler (Practical Nurse Diploma) was at the service line. The Rattlers would put an end to this streak with Haberstock's seventh kill. Middle Jailyn Stouffer (Legal Assistant) served five in a row to give the Queens a 17-5 lead before she put one into the net that ended the streak. Outside-hitter Morgan Boisvert (Bachelor of Arts in Psychology) picked up the team's eighth ace to give the Queens a 25-10 set victory.
Head Coach Talbot Walton explained he was happy with the Queens' results this weekend.
"I was happy that we were able to take care of our side. Medicine Hat played better this afternoon as they dug up a lot more balls and ran a more efficient offence than they did last night. After grinding to find a solution to their defence in the first two sets, we got off to a great start in the third and just kept the momentum rolling throughout the rest of the set."
The players of the match were awarded to Kaedence Wiggins of the Rattlers and Jaiden Ferguson of the Queens. Wiggins finished tied for the team-high with seven kills while Ferguson led the match in this category with 10.
The Queens will have next week off but will be back in action on February 2 at home when they welcome the Briercrest College Clippers. As for the Rattlers, they will be in Calgary next week to take on the SAIT Trojans with the match on Friday starting at 6 pm.
Kings Volleyball – Medicine Hat College Rattlers 1 at Kings 3
It was quite the opening set between these two teams a day after the Kings took the match in three sets. Following a kill from outside-hitter Noah Carlson (Open Studies), the Kings took a 18-17 lead into the first timeout of the match which was called by the Rattlers. But RDP pulled away in the late moments of the set and opened up with a 25-21 victory with setter Tom Wass (Open Studies) wiping a kill off the block out of bounds.
The Kings jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the second which forced the Rattlers to call an early timeout. But Medicine Hat College battled back to tie it up at 13 as they ran an efficient offence of the short break. The Rattlers even took a brief 15-14 lead before middle Evan Ockerman (Bachelor of Education) tied it back up with a kill. A couple of points later which included a service ace from right-side Nathan Chernik (Bachelor of Education) led to Medicine Hat taking an 18-16 lead into an RDP timeout. In the late stages of the match, both teams were not cracking as they were going kill-for-kill with each other before the Rattlers took the set 28-26 following two errors committed by the Kings.
The Kings got off to yet another great start as they jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the early stages of the third set which forced the Rattlers to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, the Kings shifted into cruise control and found themselves up 23-13 in the late stages of the third set. Including the 23rd point, middle Spencer Purdie (Open Studies) scored two out of the final three points to give himself four kills in the match which led to the Kings taking the third set 25-13.
In the fourth set, the Kings cruised to a 25-16 victory to take the match despite the Rattlers fighting off two match points with the set ending in a service error.
Head Coach Aaron Schulha explained the team did some good things this afternoon, especially after they lost the second set.
"Obviously losing that second set on a hitting error was tough. But the Rattlers played much better this afternoon than last night as they served the ball much tougher. We didn't do a good enough job early on in the match on serve receive but in the later stages, I thought we weathered their more potent servers. We did a much better job blocking as we generated a few more points off our stuff blocks this afternoon then last night."
The players of the match were awarded to outside hitters Jordan McKee (General Studies) of the Rattlers and Colby Nemeth (Bachelor of Commerce) of the Kings. Mckee finished with a match-high 16 kills while Nemeth had a team-high 14 kills in the win.
The Kings will have next week off to prepare for two matches at home against the Briercrest College Clippers on February 2 and 3 while the Rattlers will be on the road again next week as they face off with the SAIT Trojans next Friday. The match will start at 6 pm.