Clippers dethrone the Queens on the road
Red Deer, February 3, 2024 - The Briercrest College Clippers completed the road sweep of the Red Deer Polytechnic Queens on Saturday afternoon in a five-set thrilling match.
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.
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.
Players of the match: Julia Beers (Clippers) and Emma Holmes (Queens)