(RDP Athletics)

By Red Deer Polytechnic Athletics

Special Honours

RDP Volleyball student-athletes honoured by ACAC, Greves awarded South Player of the Year

Feb 24, 2023 | 3:27 PM

Red Deer Polytechnic and the Athletics department are pleased to recognize outside hitters Jaiden Ferguson and Colby Nemeth, liberos Frankie Sandini and Jonathan (JJ) Graham, middle-blocker Autumn Roos as well as setter Maddux Greves as Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) All-Conference award recipients.

Greves was also honoured by being awarded the ACAC South Division Player of the Year.

The three Kings athletes were instrumental to the team’s 17-2 record this season. Night in and night out, Greves led an effective and efficient offense. Nemeth was a high-flier on the service line and was a reliable defensive specialist when he was in the back row. Lastly, Graham may not have had his achievements recognized during the matches but still made his presence known on the court when it came down to leading the charge on the team’s serve-receive.

All three Queens were a crucial part of the volleyball team this year. Ferguson was an outside hitter the team could count on for a kill in the midst of a jam. Out of the middle, Roos was known for her solo blocks as she towers over everyone at six-foot-one and has a long reach. Lastly, Sandini was a huge piece of the puzzle as she would never give up on any ball, no matter where it was on the playing surface. The Queens were happy to add the West Vancouver native to the team after graduating two veteran liberos last season.

Jaiden Ferguson (Outside-hitter)

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Jaiden Ferguson is a five-foot-11 outside hitter from Red Deer. She is a third-year student-athlete enrolled in the Business Administration General program at the Polytechnic.

Ferguson came to the post-secondary institution back in 2019 as one of the Queens top recruits that the coaching staff thought they needed long-term in the program. She has had a very good career thus far. Heading into the 2022-2023 campaign, she was the third hitter on the depth chart but was given the opportunity to step into a starting position this year and has proved to the coaches she deserved that role with her being a consistent threat on offense every match. The local native has 124 total kills on the year and averages around three kills per set which places her sixth on the leaderboard in the conference.

Head Coach Talbot Walton said Ferguson did a very good job in the first half of the season.

“She was doing what we want a power hitter to do. She was putting the ball away consistently and passing the ball very well. Jaiden is a lead-by-example type of player. We know what we will get from her on a consistent basis.”

In the first half of the season, she was averaging just under four kills a set. The Red Deer native was named the Queens Athlete of the Week on November 7, 2022 with 15 kills, two blocks, and 11 digs in a victory against the University of Alberta-Augustana Vikings.

Autumn Roos (Middle blocker)

Autumn Roos (Open Studies) is a six-foot-one middle-blocker from Ponoka and is in her second year with the Queens Volleyball program.

Her workload was almost 10 times as much as last year when she just appeared in two matches. This season she appeared in all 19 matches mainly as a starter. The Ponoka native was outstanding on defense, specifically her block ability as she was second out of all the female volleyball athletes in the conference with 0.68 blocks per set. Roos had 45 stuff blocks on the season which places her first in the ACAC, three ahead of second place.

Walton explained she has done a great job all season long with the extra workload compared to last season.

“She has pretty high standards of herself. She has been working very hard at getting better at her job and understanding that middle-blocker position. We have been very happy with her progress this year for sure.”

At the start of the second semester, Roos started the 2023 year in amazing fashion with back-to-back player of the match honours against the Concordia University Thunder and The Kings University Eagles. During these two matches, the middle blocker had a total of 21 kills and 12 blocks in the nine sets that were played. After the regular season concluded, Roos had 91 kills which gave her an average of 1.38 per set and a 40 per cent kill efficiency.

Frankie Sandini (Libero)

Frankie Sandini is a five-foot-nine libero out of West Vancouver, BC and is enrolled in the Justice Studies program.

She started her ACAC career with the Olds College Broncos but transitioned just 30 minutes north to the Queens Volleyball program this season. This addition filled a big hole with both of the Queens liberos moving on from the program last year. The second-year libero helped solidify the team’s serve-receive and the defensive aspect of the game. At the end of the regular season, Sandini was fourth amongst all liberos in the conference with a total of 247 digs.

The 5x ACAC Coach of the Year said Sandini filled a huge hole in their lineup this season with Kaylee Domoney and Edyn Aasman moving on from the program.

“She had some experience at the post-secondary level already. She knew and had that mindset for the libero position. Frankie had an outgoing and external personality that we wanted to add to the team. With a younger and quieter team, we needed this because it gives us a different dynamic.”

On top of being in the top five for total digs, she is also in sixth with a 3.38 digs-per-set average. Sandini was awarded multiple player of the match awards throughout the 2022-2023 season, most recently on February 3 against the Broncos, and was also named the Fas Gas RDP Queens Athlete of the Week for November 28, 2022. At the end of the regular season, she was also the recipient of the Jon Walsh Memorial Queens Volleyball Scholarship for her commitment and love of the game.

Sandini alongside her teammates will get the chance to compete in front of their home crowd at 6 pm tomorrow against the Keyano College Huskies. These two teams just faced each other once during the regular season and the Huskies came out on top with a three-set victory. However, this match took place near the beginning of the season and the team has improved a vast amount since dropping this match on November 18.

Colby Nemeth (Outside-hitter)

Colby Nemeth is a six-foot-five left-side hitter out of Red Deer, AB. He is in his second year of post-secondary volleyball and is enrolled in the Bachelor of Commerce program at the Polytechnic.

Before coming back to his hometown, he played for one of the best volleyball programs in the country, Trinity Western University Spartans. He had a total of 191 kills, 75 digs, and 14 stuff blocks on the year. But what really stood out was his high-velocity spin serve. The local native finished the year with 39 aces and an average of 0.60 aces-per-set which was enough to place him first in the ACAC.

Head Coach Aaron Schulha said he is a very impactful player at the net as well as a threat in the back row.

“He is a definite pipe threat out of the back row and a position six defender which is where his beach volleyball background comes in handy. There are a lot of different facets where he positively contributes to the game of volleyball. We know we will need him if we want to have success at championships.”

Nemeth leads his team with 191 kills. He has multiple player of the game honours to his name, most recently on January 27 against the SAIT Trojans as he had eight kills and three aces.

(RDP Athletics)

Maddux Greves (Setter)

Maddux Greves is a six-foot-three setter out of Calgary, AB who spent time with the Trinity Western University Spartans, the SAIT Trojans as well as the Kings. He is enrolled in the Business Administration General program at RDP.

Greves had an incredible year in his final season of post-secondary volleyball. He averaged just under 10 assists per set which places him in second amongst all setters in the ACAC. In the 17 matches he played he also picked up over a dig per set along with bringing back his record-setting spin serve near the end of the semester.

The three-time ACAC Coach of the Year explained his presence will be missed on the court and in the locker room next season.

“He is an excellent defender and an extremely smart volleyball player who brings out the best in everyone around him. Maddux has a wicked spin serve which can be a huge asset for us come playoff time and then there are his setting abilities. He is one of the best setters in the country.”

Greves’ defensive game did not go unnoticed as well as he finished his year off with 93 digs and 1.60 digs per set which placed him just below his teammate JJ Graham on the leaderboard. The Calgary setter will be moving on following the end of the academic year to pursue a professional volleyball career somewhere in Europe.

In his final two matches in the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre, he was awarded the player of the match where he finished with a total of 52 assists. On top of being awarded to the all-conference team, he was also named the South Division Player of the Year.

Jonathan (JJ) Graham (Libero)

Jonathan (JJ) Graham is a six-foot-two libero from Red Deer, AB. He is in his fourth year of the Business Administration-General Management program at the Central Alberta post-secondary institution.

Graham is someone that has gone unnoticed in the Kings 19 matches through the season but made his presence known in the back row as one of the top defensive specialists in the conference. He capped off his fourth year with 1.89 digs per set which is the second-highest average in his career and placed him ninth in the ACAC. His 108 total digs were enough to finish in 10th place in the conference.

Schulha said the libero position does not get lots of recognition around the volleyball world.

“He is our quarterback essentially of our serve-receive and our defense. He has been doing a really good job especially as we move him around in different positions with the different lineups we have been playing lately. I thought there were two or three matches where he easily could have been our player of the match. He has been very steady and it is nice to see him getting recognized.

The Kings head coach added this honour was well-deserved, especially with a talented group of liberos in the South Division.

Graham and the Kings finished off the season in first place in the south which means they get lined up to play the fourth seed in the North Division which is the Lakeland College Rustlers after they defeated the Northwestern Polytechnic Wolves in the play-in game last week. The Rustlers and the Kings will battle out in Fort McMurray on February 23 at 8 pm with the Keyano College Huskies hosting the championships.