The Queens win against their Central Alberta rivals, the Olds College Broncos

Olds, February 3, 2023 – In this Central Alberta match, the Red Deer Polytechnic won in four sets over their rivals the Olds College Broncos.

It was a slow start for the Queens as they found themselves down by a few points at the beginning of the first set. But they slowly built their game back up and showed up halfway through the set to take an early four-point lead into a Broncos timeout. Middle-blocker Autumn Roos (Open Studies) would finish the first set with a kill after Olds could not keep the pass on their side, so Roos finished it with a party kill to give the Queens a 25-21 victory.

RDP managed to show off their adversity early on in the second set as they battled back from a four-point deficit and climbed to a 25-22 victory to give them a two-set lead over the Broncos. After failing to convert on the first set point, it was one long rally that featured Olds College picking up another point to come within two points of the Queens. Head Coach Talbot Walton would call a timeout and it paid off with the Broncos firing their serve long after the break.

In another close set with the Broncos, it was the Queens who found themselves down by a couple of points late in the third set as Olds was able to find themselves on the right side of a lead with a few points to go. The Queens continued to fall behind the Broncos late in the set as the home team was able to take one set off the visitors after a 25-18 victory to force a fourth set.

After suffering a tough blow, the Queens came out of the gate fast in the fourth set and managed to explode to a 7-2 lead over the Broncos before the home team called a timeout. But this didn't stop Olds College to battle back into the match. However, after the Broncos made a game, the Queens jumped out to a 20-12 lead in the fourth to take the match 3-1 after winning the set 25-15.

The Queens player of the game to defensive specialist Frankie Sandini as she was all over the court digging up balls and setting up her team's offense for success.

Sandini and the Queens will be at home in Red Deer tomorrow night for a rematch that starts at 6 pm.