RDP Athlete of the Week, schedule for upcoming National Championship

Fox and the Red Deer Polytechnic Queens will host the Olds College Broncos in game three on Friday, March 25 at 7 pm.

This Week in Red Deer Polytechnic Athletics

The Red Deer Polytechnic Kings and Queens Volleyball squads will compete at the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Volleyball National Championships. The RDP Queens Hockey team will continue its best-of-five ACAC Women’s Hockey final against the Olds College Broncos. Over two days, the Polytechnic’s Indoor Track team will challenge for medals at the ACAC Championships in Edmonton.

Tickets for the ACAC Women’s Hockey Championship are available online.

Here is a summary of what is happening this week:

Queens Volleyball | CCAA Championship | March 25-27 | Charlottetown, PEI | Holland College

The stage has been set for the CCAA Women’s Volleyball National Championship in Charlottetown, PEI. The top eight teams from across the nation have been determined and are gearing up for three days of intense competition, beginning March 25. With a four set ACAC Championship victory over the Lakeland College Rustlers on March 12, the Red Deer Polytechnic Queens won gold and solidified a spot in the national championship. Since then, the Queens have been training and focusing on what made them successful throughout an undefeated regular season (16-0) and ACAC playoff run.

“Practice has been going really well. We are just fine tuning what we do,” said Chris Wandler, Red Deer Polytechnic Queens Volleyball Interim Head Coach. “It was tough to prepare specifically for our opponent before knowing exactly who we would be facing. We are relying on our learnings throughout the entire year.”

The Red Deer Polytechnic Queens will begin nationals against the Mount St. Vincent University (MSVU) Mystics, from Halifax, on Friday, March 25.

“The Mystics are the Atlantic Champions. This week we are watching video of them and formulating a more specific game plan,” explained Wandler. “We are focusing on taking care of our game and playing Queens Volleyball, so they have to adjust to our style of play.”

Led by head coach Derrick Brooks, a two-time Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association (ACAA) Coach of the Year, the Mystics swept the St. Thomas Tommies (25-20, 25-22 and 25-18) in the ACAA Women’s Volleyball Championship. In that match, MSVU second-year outside hitter Marcy MacNeil had a game high 15 kills along with 14 digs. The Queens have depth and many impact players of their own. In the ACAC gold medal match, outside hitters Tess Pearman and Jaiden Ferguson recorded 13 kills each. ACAC Women’s Volleyball South Player of the Year Anna Carlson was very efficient on the right side, contributing 12 kills with a 0.455 hitting percentage. Setter Emma Letkeman (41 assists) also connected with middles McKenna Olson (seven kills) and Sydney Rix (five kills).

Once again, libero Kaylee Domoney was the team’s defensive backbone, accumulating 17 digs and three assists. In 2019/2020, the RDP Queens captured CCAA bronze after steadily improving throughout the championship. The Red Deer Polytechnic Queens Volleyball team last won national gold in 2015, with other championship titles occurring in 2014 and 1984.

The Red Deer Polytechnic Queens will play the MSVU Mystics in a national quarter-final on Friday, March 25 at 10 am MDT. Fans will be able to watch the match online.

The six other teams participating in the national championship are:

Holland Hurricanes – ACAA hosts
Humber Hawks – Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) gold
Douglas Royals – Pacific Western Athletic Association (PACWEST) gold
VIU Mariners – PACWEST wildcard and winner of the past three CCAA Championships
Les Rouges de Saint-Boniface – Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference (MCAC) gold
Lynx d’Édouard-Montpetit – Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) gold

After Friday’s match, please refer to the CCAA schedule to see when the Queens will play next.

Kings Volleyball | CCAA Championship | March 25-27 | Québec, QC | Cégep Limoilou

The two most storied men’s volleyball programs in the CCAA will meet on the opening day of the national championship in Québec City. In a national quarter-final, the Red Deer Polytechnic Kings will challenge the host Limoilou Titans on Friday, March 25. The RDP Kings lead the CCAA with 13 national gold medals. The Titans follow with 11 titles. Red Deer Polytechnic Kings Volleyball Head Coach Aaron Schulha expects a lively Titans gymnasium.

“It is going to be fun atmosphere for sure. Limoilou is a mainstay at the national championships and will be a tough first round opponent,” he said. “However, I think our team thrived off being the bad guys up in Edmonton for our ACAC Championship and it will be a similar environment on Friday. They are always well coached, so we will have to execute at a high level.”

Limoilou Head Coach Rock Picard has been part of the Titans coaching staff since 1993. Picard has coached his team to 10 RSEQ titles. The Titans last earned national gold in 2018. The Limoilou Titans won RSEQ bronze this season. As many conferences across Canada navigated athletic competition throughout COVID-19, the season has been pushed later than usual, including the recent completion of championship games in the OCAA.

“It’s been a little different than past years with the OCAA not finishing up their conference finals until last Thursday. Things seem a little more rushed than normal with video exchange not happening until Monday,” said Schulha. “However, we now have video on Limoilou and will continue to prepare our guys in a similar fashion to what we have done all year.”

During the playoffs, the Kings have progressively elevated their play and won their 20th ACAC gold medal with a four set win over the host NAIT Ooks. Since that victory, the team has practiced with varying levels of intensity. “It’s always a fine line to walk at this time of year between keeping the guys healthy and keeping them match ready,” explained Schulha.

“Our practices last week were lower impact than we’re accustomed to, but we will ramp up the game play over the next couple of days and be well prepared for Friday.”

The Red Deer Polytechnic Kings will play the Limoilou Titans on Friday, March 25 at 4 pm MDT. Fans will be able to watch the match online.

The six other teams competing at nationals are:

Géants du Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu – RSEQ gold
St. Thomas Tommies – ACAA gold
Camosun Chargers – PACWEST gold
CMU Blazers – MCAC gold
Humber Hawks – OCAA gold
Redeemer Royals – OCAA wildcard

At the conclusion of Friday’s competition, the time of the Kings’ next game along with their opponent will be listed online.

Queens Hockey | ACAC Championship | Friday, March 25 | 7 pm | Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre

The first place Red Deer Polytechnic Queens will host the third seed Olds College Broncos in game three of the best-of-five ACAC Championship as they look to wrap up the series on home ice. The Queens lead two games to nothing with 2-1 and 4-0 victories. The Polytechnic has received excellent goaltending from Tanya Disotell-Dunsmore and Madison Fox and strong defensive play from the entire team. Five different student-athletes have scored for the Queens. First year Alli Soyko has found the back of the net in both playoff contests.

Queens Hockey | ACAC Championship | Saturday, March 26 | 7 pm | Olds

If necessary, the Olds College Broncos will host the Red Deer Polytechnic Queens in game four.

Queens Hockey | ACAC Championship | Sunday, March 27 | 7 pm | Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre

If needed, the RDP Queens will play the Olds College Broncos in the fifth and final game of the championship series.

Indoor Track | ACAC Championships | March 26-27 | U of A Pavillion

The last time the Red Deer Polytechnic Indoor Track team participated in the ACAC Championships was in the 2018/2019 season, so there is a lot of excitement heading into this weekend’s championships on March 26 and 27.

“It is a bit surreal thinking about how long it has been since we have attended an indoor track championship,” said Kari Elliott, Red Deer Polytechnic Cross Country Running and Indoor Track Head Coach. “I am grateful to be heading back and the opportunity to go for it again.”

With the Kings and Queens finishing first at Running Room Grand Prix #2 in 2019/2020, the RDP Indoor Track team was poised to excel at that year’s championships, but COVID-19 shutdown the event.

“So much has changed since then, and for those that were on that team that year – Devin [Saunders], Dan [Szucs], Lauren [Pasiuk] and Axsivier [Lawrence] – it brings back somewhat painful memories,” said Elliott. “We were anticipating our first ever ACAC Championship win and some individual records as well.”

The entire 2020/2021 ACAC season was canceled due to COVID-19, but the RDP team is embracing the opportunity to run this year. The RDP Kings and Queens Indoor Track teams have been preparing in a variety of areas leading up to the championships.

“A number of our athletes participated in the Alberta Indoor Track Championships held in Edmonton a couple weekends ago. This event served as additional competition,” said Elliott. “Over the past three weeks, we had a couple of tough workouts, and then the focus has shifted to wellness – sleep, nutrition, mental focus, and recovery.”

At this year’s Running Room Grand Prix #2, Lawrence was unable to finish the day of competition due to injury, but there is optimism for a healthy roster this weekend.

“As with any season, we have had our fair share of injuries. Axsivier has been struggling through some ongoing achilles issues, but we are confident that he will be ready to compete,” explained Elliott. “Everyone else has made it to this point in the season safely and we will reduce the overall load on our athletes while still maintaining that speed component.”

Elliott is expecting all teams to bring their best with medals on the line.

“Our Kings and Queens will be competitive at this year’s championship, but there is also deep competition in our conference,” she said. “The goal is to leave everything out there over two days, have no regrets, and celebrate the individual successes alongside our big team goals.”

The team will fine tune a few areas and maintain heathy habits this week.

“The work has all been done and now we are just trying to stay sharp,” said Elliott.

Concordia University and St. Mary’s University are co-hosting the event at the University of Alberta Pavillion.

by RDP Athletics

RDP Athlete of the Week, schedule for upcoming National Championship

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