Rattlers take one set away from RDP, Kings win in four
Red Deer, January 20, 2024 - Despite, the Medicine Hat College Rattlers taking one set away from the Red Deer Polytechnic Kings, RDP completed the weekend sweep of the Rattlers with a four set victory on Saturday afternoon.
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.
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.
Players of the match: Jordan McKee (Rattlers) and Colby Nemeth (Kings)