Kings bounce back with three-set victory, Queens fall in five-set thriler
Red Deer, February 3, 2024 – The Red Deer Polytechnic Kings bounced back with an impressive three-set victory over the Briercrest College Clippers, a day after falling in four sets. As for the Queens, they fell to second place in the South Division on Saturday afternoon in a five-set thrilling loss against the Briercrest College Clippers.
See below for more information regarding each match.
Queens Volleyball – Queens 2 vs Briercrest College Clippers 3
After the Clippers opened up the match by scoring three consecutive points, outside-hitter Emma Holmes (Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences) put a stop to it with her first kill of the afternoon. The Queens would tie it up at seven but a 6-1 run by the Clippers backed by three kills from right-side Faith Buhler (Bachelor of Arts in Psychology) led to a timeout called by RDP. The Queens fought off multiple set point opportunities but outside-hitter Julia Beers put away her ninth kill of the match to give her Clippers a 25-22 set victory.
After tying the set up at six, the Queens would earn the next three points backed by some outstanding serving from outside-hitter Lauren Junck (Bachelor of Arts in Psychology). But the Clippers slowly clawed away at the Queens' lead and tied the game up at 23. The two teams would battle right until the end where outside-hitter Kacey De Jong (Bachelor of Arts in Psychology) put the set away with a kill to give her team a 27-25 victory.
Some great serving and offence by Holmes put the Queens up 16-13 which led to a Clippers timeout in the third set. RDP would force a fourth set with a 25-20 victory following a Briercrest College attacking error on set point.
After some great attacking and defence, the Queens jumped out to a 16-12 lead in the fourth in hopes of forcing a fifth and deciding set. An ace by defensive specialist Madelyn DeZutter (Bachelor of Education) pushed the Queens lead to five with a service ace which forced the Clippers to call a timeout. Two blocks by middle Jailyn Stouffer (Legal Assistant) led the Queens to tie the match up at two sets a piece with a 25-18 victory.
The Clippers jumped out to a big 7-3 lead in the fifth set which led to a timeout called by the Queens. As they switched sides, Briercrest held an 8-4 lead. The Queens had no answer to the Clippers' offence and fell 15-6 after Beers' match-leading 24th kill. She was named the player of the match moments later.
The Queens player of the match was awarded to outside-hitter Emma Holmes who finished the afternoon with 16 kills and eight digs.
Head Coach Talbot Walton explained that the Queens' results this weekend don't show how well the team did play.
"Last night we played well for two-thirds of the match but there were moments where we got off track and did not have a solution. Same thing tonight. It took us a little while to get into the groove of things. We were able to come back from two sets down to tie it which is never an easy feat."
Following the match, libero Frankie Sandini (Justice Studies) was awarded the Jon Walsh Memorial Scholarship for her outstanding community service within central Alberta. The Queens also honoured Holmes and outside hitters Jaiden Ferguson (Business Administration) and Morgan Boisvert as they will be graduating from the Queens Volleyball program at the end of the season.
Next week will be the last week for regular season volleyball action for both teams with the Queens hitting the road on Saturday for a match in Camrose against the University of Alberta-Augustana Vikings with the match starting at 6 pm. The Clippers will host The Kings University Eagles on Friday at 5 pm before welcoming the Concordia University Thunder on Saturday.
Kings Volleyball – Kings 3 vs Briercrest College Clippers 0
The Kings got off to a great start on Saturday afternoon as they jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the match with a 25-21 victory in the first set. The Kings won the kill battle in the opening set as they put up 14 to the Clippers 11.
RDP would make it two sets in a row after going on a 3-0 run to close out the set with a 25-17 victory with the Kings earning two of those points off their attack. The Clippers struggled on offence as they finished the set with just 11 kills on 22 attempts for an 18 per cent kill efficiency with the Polytechnic's percentage being well over 60 with outside-hitter Noah Carlson leading the match with 12 kills.
Despite an adamant Clippers squad to stay in the match, the Kings pulled away at the halfway point to take a two-point lead with some great serving from outside-hitter Colby Nemeth (Bachelor of Commerce). But after Briercrest College battled back to tie it and later take a 19-18 lead, the Kings called a timeout. Carlson would tie up the set at 19 with his 500th kill in his four-year post-secondary volleyball career. He would finish with 20 in the win as the Kings defeated the Clippers 25-23 in the third set.
The players of the match were awarded to Clippers outside-hitter Jackson Anderson (Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies) who finished his night with 13 kills. Libero JJ Graham was awarded the honour for the Kings as he played on his home court for the final time in his college career. He had seven digs in the win. Graham was honoured for his five years at RDP prior to the match.
Head Coach Aaron Schulha was extremely happy with how the team bounced back after their loss last night.
"There were a couple of instances where we looked good last night. But I thought we played a more well-rounded match this afternoon. Noah had an off match last night and he would be the first person to tell you. But today he was back to his usual self. I think he was plus-17 or 18 which is impressive in a three-set match. He is the catalyst for how things are going."
After the Queens match concluded, outside hitter Carter Hills was awarded the Jon Walsh Memorial Scholarship for his outstanding community service with multiple club volleyball programs throughout Alberta.
In the final week of regular season volleyball action, the Kings will clash with the University of Alberta-Augustana Vikings on Saturday at 8 pm while the Clippers will face off with The Kings University Eagles at 7 pm on Friday.