Queens drop Falcons for national bronze
Quebec, QC – The RDC Queens started to find their groove as the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Women's Volleyball National Championship progressed into the bronze medal match.
Perhaps using the previous five set loss against the Fanshawe Falcons as motivation, the Queens looked composed and in control, downing the Falcons in four sets (25-14, 25-17, 18-25 and 25-21), adding more hardware to their Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) silver.
"Today definitely was a redemption day for us. First to get through Briercrest and then get another shot at Fanshawe. In the Monday one, they outplayed us for sure," said Queens Head Coach Talbot Walton of their opening match to the Falcons.
"We weren't quite good enough on day one to beat them, but we got better on day two and then today on day three, we definitely started to play some of our better volleyball."
RDC setter Emma Letkeman established the tone early, running an effective Queens' offence and making an impact from the service line in the first set. The Kinesiology General student helped open the match 4-0, which included an ace. She kept the Falcons guessing, using a variety of RDC outside hitters along with middles McKenna Olson and Alexandria Greenshields.
After Walton called a timeout down 12-15 in the second set and Edyn Aasman at the service line, the Queens scored five consecutive points (17-15) and gained momentum en route to a set win. Libero Kaylee Domoney and first-year Aasman provided some excellent defence, allowing the Queens to quickly transition to offence.
Along with Domoney's consistent play, Walton was impressed with the steady performance from Aasman, who had ten digs and an assist while also applying service pressure.
"We are a pretty fortunate to have a player of that calibre in the role that she's accepted. To be behind one of the league's best liberos and the separation between the two of them isn't a massive amount, for sure, but she came in and adopted that role fairly early in the season, and really made it her own," said Walton.
"Her serving quality kept progressing all through the first half and we always knew that she was a pretty good defender and today, she found a way to get better and better and played some really good volleyball. It's nice to see every athlete progress, especially those first-year athletes, where it can sometimes be overwhelming for them, but she did not look overwhelmed, and played like a veteran."
Aasman (10), Domoney (3) and Holmes (11)
In the fourth set, Letkeman and Greenshields exposed Fanshawe's middle, jumping out to a 12-4 lead and the Queens eventually capped off a 25-21 decision, and bronze medal victory.
"Ali played some of her best volleyball this weekend and definitely today, there was that segment in the fourth set when she just went off and scored, I think, six points in the three rotations," explained Walton.
"Offensively and defensively, she was doing a monstrous job at the net. Really happy for her to have that day because we know she is capable of doing that on a regular basis."
Greenshields (7), Letkeman (18) and Neufeldt (6)
Queens Player-of-the-Game Domoney stacked up 17 digs and one assist in another rock solid effort. Red Deer's Emma Holmes powered the Queens' offence with a team-high 13 kills, and was named a Second-Team Tournament All-Star.
Alexandria Greenshields was outstanding, accumulating eight kills, six of the team's 17 blocks and a pair of digs, and received the honour of a First-Team Tournament All-Star.
Tess Pearman (seven kills), Erin Neufeldt (seven) and McKenna Olson (six) also significantly contributed in the victory.
Letkeman recorded 34 assists and two of RDC's five aces.
Falcons Player-of-the-Game Mattea Deleary totaled 11 kills, three blocks and a pair of digs.
Deleary and Domoney
Fanshawe's Janelle Albert, a CCAA All-Canadian, had 27 kills when the teams faced each other in the opening match. The Queens held the Tournament All-Star to 16 and a 0.146 hitting percentage.
The win with a young team chock-full of potential was special for the head coach.
"A couple years ago, I was not too sure if I'd ever get back to coaching, so you have that dream in your head if you can get that right group of athletes to buy into everything that you believe in. I was fortunate enough that we did have that group in place," said Walton.
"Chris [Wandler] had done a good job with them in the previous years and we had some nice additions this year. Right from day one, I already had in mind that we would be a high end level team... and they just continued to grow and grow."
Walton views the CCAA bronze as a stepping stone to where he wants to lead the Queens.
"From where we started the season to where we finished it now, the level of play is extremely high and I couldn't be happier for the group as a whole," he stated. "To see them play the style of volleyball that I had envisioned in my mind and just getting us one step closer to winning a national championship."
Garneau and Vancouver Island University (VIU) will compete at 8:00 pm EDT for national gold.
The national championship results can be found online.
Photos from the bronze medal match are available on the CCAA site.