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Kings crown Royals for national bronze

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Quebec, QC – The Red Deer Polytechnic Kings are bringing home hardware from the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Men’s Volleyball National Championship.

The Kings controlled many facets of the match and defeated the Redeemer Royals in four sets (25-21, 25-16, 23-25 and 25-20), earning national bronze.

“Our group was really resilient and showed a lot of growth this weekend,” said Aaron Schulha, Red Deer Polytechnic Kings Volleyball Head Coach. “We had guys playing through injury and after losing that tough first round matchup to a very good host Limoilou team, our guys refocused very well and came together to win bronze.”

Setter Maddux Greves got many teammates involved in the opening set against the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) wildcard. He connected with outside hitters Reece Lehman, Brett Lower, Nicholas Possingham to help build a four point lead (18-14). Middle Dillon Gauci picked up three kills in the set. The Kings retained that four point margin and won 25-21.

Possingham (6)

RDP set the tone early in the second set, opening on a 6-0 run. The Kings built on that margin with an ace from Cody Boulding and offensive production from Lower, Lehman and Possingham late in the set to solidify a 25-16 victory.

Lehman (9), Boulding (7), Lower (5)

With their backs against the wall, the Royals started the third set 8-1. A pair of kills from Lehman eventually helped bring the Polytechnic within four (8-12). The Kings kept chipping away and evened it up 19-19. Two late kills from Redeemer Player of the Match William Winkelhorst (25-23) gave his squad the decision and brought them within a set.

“The bronze medal is a very difficult to win in this format where you have to play four matches in three days,” added Schulha. “I’m very proud of this group for what they’ve been able to accomplish this season, given all of the crazy circumstances.”

In the fourth set, the teams were even 15-15 and then RDP started to pull away. Three kills from both Possingham and Lehman created separation and the RDP Kings picked up a 25-20 decision and CCAA bronze.

Kings Player of the Game Possingham totaled 12 kills (0.364 hitting percentage), six digs, one assist, one block and one of the team’s 10 service aces. Lower fired 13 kills. Lehman added nine. Gauci (six kills and three blocks) and Boulding (two kills and four blocks) were effective from the middle. Greves had 41 assists, five digs, five aces, two kills and a pair of blocks.

Winkelhorst contributed 11 kills for the Royals. Teammate Brett Jenkins led the team with 12 kills. Brayden Stoffers added 10. Jason Wildeboer had five of the Royals’ seven aces.

Three Kings were also named to the CCAA All-Tournament teams. Greves and Boulding earned spots on the CCAA First All-Tournament team. Lower received the honour as a CCAA Second All-Tournament team selection.

The Camosun Chargers (PACWEST gold) defeated the host Limoilou Titans in the gold medal match.

With many of the student-athletes returning to Red Deer Polytechnic next season, the Kings will have another strong team.

“I am excited for what next year holds for our program,” said Schulha.

RDPolytech Athletics

RDP Kings claim consecutive ACAC Championships

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The Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP) Kings are back-to-back Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Men’s Hockey Champions.

The Concordia University Thunder played their best in this elimination game, but Kings’ forward Jaxon Steele ended game three 3-2 in double overtime and ultimately the best-of-five championship series.

“We talked about it before the game, during the periods and going into overtime about sticking to the process. A line I used with them is, don’t go out there and think that I got to score and put that pressure on yourself. We’re going to get it done,” said Trevor Keeper, Kings Hockey Head Coach. “If you play like that, you play with less fear and make things happen. Jaxon Steele got the winner because of that kind of attitude.”

Longjohn (11)

The RDP Kings opened the scoring at 11:41 of the middle frame. Captain Chance Longjohn picked up the puck on the left boards, drove wide and tucked it inside the far post behind Thunder goaltender Griffin Bowerman.

The Concordia University Thunder evened the contest 1-1 with 12:23 remaining in the third period. On a five-on three Thunder power play, Kings goaltender Arik Weersink made the initial save, but Concordia’s Isaac Leik cashed in the rebound.

Miller (94)

Then the Kings’ power play went to work nine minutes later. Longjohn, a Second All-Conference team selection, skated behind the Thunder net and sent it out front for teammate Erik Miller. The third-year Bachelor of Business Administration student roofed it over Bowerman’s glove.

With Bowerman pulled for the extra skater, the visitors knotted it up 2-2 with less than two minutes left in the third period. Concordia’s fourth-year forward Brandon Wallis found room on Weersink’s glove side, but it didn’t seem to faze the fifth-year netminder.

Weersink (72)

“I have to be the calmest guy on the ice. If you’re shaky behind them, they will be shaky in front of you,” said Weersink. “That was my biggest thing – breathe. I’ve been here before. I have full confidence in them and in return they have full confidence in me and it showed.”

In the second overtime period, Bowerman kicked out a shot from Kings’ forward Dawson Leroux to the slot where teammate Steele deposited the rebound into the net at 7:30.

Then the Kings flooded the ice in celebration

.

“Every guy wants to win his last game and we are fortunate that we did,” added Weersink, who was named the North Star Sports Kings Player of the Game and the Playoff MVP “There is no other group than I’d rather do this with.”

In five playoff games, Lethbridge’s Weersink won all five starts and recorded an impressive 1.89 goals against average and 0.934 save percentage.

“He’s our all-time leader in wins. This year, he’s 27 years old. We had to do some management with him – his knees were bugging him,” noted Keeper. “In the playoffs, he just played through the pain. He was really dialed in and focused and really deserving of the Playoff MVP.”

Over five seasons in a Kings’ uniform, Weersink had an outstanding record in net, winning 44 regular season games and only dropping 17.

Bowerman received the Thunder Player of the Game.

Both teams went one-for-five on the power play.

It is challenging to win an ACAC Championship, let along back-to-back gold medals.

“It’s going to mean a lot more in the future, I think. It hasn’t sunk in yet. Al Ferchuk texted me tonight and he said winning back-to-back is hard to do,” noted Keeper. “This program hasn’t done it since he coached. It was a really nice message to get from Al before the game.”

The RDP Kings last won consecutive championships in 1977 and 1978.

As Weersink wears the Kings’ uniform for the final time, he reflects on his time at Red Deer Polytechnic fondly.

“Hopefully, I get into Optometry School, which is sad to say because it’s the end of the road for RDP and playing hockey. It’s tough to give up the game because I’ve been playing it my entire life,” he shared. “You build these relationships. Those I’ll take with me. We will have another banner that will hang up there forever. I won’t forget about any of these guys, that’s for sure.”

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Wiens and Iyamu leading RDP Athletics into final weekend of 2023

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Red Deer Polytechnic is proud to announce The Gutter RDP Athletes of the Week:

1. Dani Wiens
Hometown: Regina, SK
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology (3rd year)

Despite just playing one match this weekend, Queens setter Dani Wiens had an outstanding match on both sides of the court in their three-set win against the Concordia University Thunder. Coming off a three-set loss to The Kings University Eagles, the Queens were really looking to bounce back with a dominant performance and so they did. RDP managed to sweep the Thunder in three straight sets (25-19, 25-18, 25-15) to improve to 7-2 on the season and sit at the top of the South Division with one match left to go in 2023.

Wiens was named the player of the match for her outstanding 39 assists and 12 dig performance in the win. This averaged out to 13 assists per set which is incredible, but it was not a match or career-high for the setter out of Regina. Earlier this season, she had 44 in their four-set win against the SAIT Trojans and this past February, she tied the RDP and ACAC single-match record for assists with 57.

Head Coach Talbot Walton said this was a pretty impressive feat and explained Wiens started out the set strong which led to her running an effective offence throughout the rest of the match. “Thirteen assists per set is huge for a setter. Dani got into the groove of the game in the early goings of the
match and was able to move our hitters around to find some gaps to attack in. But she was also big for us at the net, blocking balls as well as going on runs from the service line.”

She now sits in seventh place in the conference in assists, averaging seven per set with the ACAC leader just under 10. The Queens will hit the road this weekend for a clash with the Lethbridge College Kodiaks.

Congratulations Dani and keep running the efficient offence like we know you can!

2. Efe Iyamu
Hometown: Toronto, ON
Open Studies (3rd year)

Kings guard Efe Iyamu and the Kings Basketball team extended their winning streak to six games with victories over the Concordia University Thunder on Friday and The Kings University Eagles on Saturday. The Kings now sit in a three-way tie for first in the South Division with the St. Mary’s Lightning and the SAIT Trojans.

Iyamu played an important role in the Polytechnic’s win against the Thunder on Friday night. The guard from Toronto dropped an incredible 20 points in the first half of the game and finished with a career-high 28 points in the Kings 87-83 victory. Despite being held to just eight points in the second half, Iyamu finished 10-for-19 from the field and went five-for-eight from downtown Red Deer.

On Saturday night in the massive 116-83 victory over the Eagles, the Open Studies student-athlete had 11 points in 21 minutes played. He currently is averaging 16.4 points per game which is a team-high and is shooting 43 per cent from the field in his first season in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC).

The Kings will be in action for their final two games of the 2023 year this weekend. They will head to Olds College on Friday night to battle with the Broncos before heading back up to Red Deer for an 8 pm tip-off on Saturday for a rematch.

Congratulations Efe and welcome to RDP!

This Week in Red Deer Polytechnic Athletics

In the final week of regular season action of 2023, all Red Deer Polytechnic teams will be in action starting with the Queens Hockey team in Olds College on Thursday to take on the Broncos. The Queens will return to Red Deer on Friday for a rematch against the Broncos. In other hockey action, the Kings Hockey team will head out on the road for two games against the Briercrest College Clippers to close out the first half of the season.

The basketball teams will head down to Olds College to battle the Broncos on Friday before returning home on Saturday for the second game of the doubleheader.

In volleyball action, the Kings and Queens will also be on the road to close out the 2023 calendar year as they head down to Lethbridge College to take on the Kodiaks for two matches.

Lastly, the curling teams will make their 2023/2024 season debut this weekend as they compete in the Fall Regional hosted at the Lloydminster Golf & Curling Centre.

Please refer to the information below for more details regarding the weekend games and matches.

Basketball

Queens (8-0) vs Olds College Broncos (1-7)
• Friday, November 24 | 6 pm in Olds
• Saturday, November 25 | 6 pm in Red Deer

Coming off two victories over the Concordia University Thunder and The Kings University Eagles, the
Queens will look to take their undefeated season into the new year as they battle the Olds College Broncos this weekend. Last season in February, the Queens swept the season series against the Broncos with two victories.

Guard Sandra Garcia-Bernal had 13 points while playing all 40 minutes in the 79-71 victory. She followed this up with a double-double performance with 13 points and 12 rebounds. The Spanish guard will be someone to watch in the next few games as she is currently 18 steals away from tying the all-time ACAC record of 350 that took the current record-holder Shea-Lynn Noyes 110 games to accomplish. Garcia-Bernal has played in a total of 88 games in her five-year career with RDP and is averaging eight steals per game this season. This past weekend she broke the ACAC single-game record for steals with 12 in the win against the Thunder.

The Queens will be in Olds on Friday night before heading back home for the second game against the Broncos which will close out the 2023 calendar year for both teams.

Kings (7-1) vs Olds College Broncos (3-5)
• Friday, November 24 | 8 pm in Olds
• Saturday, November 25 | 8 pm in Red Deer

Following two victories this past weekend, the Kings will put their six-game winning streak on the line as they face the Olds College Broncos on Friday and Saturday. In the pre-season, the Broncos gave the Polytechnic a run for their money and forced overtime. But the Kings came out on top with a 92-88 victory with centre Jose Mauro (Business Diploma) dropping 27 points and guard Tyrique Walters (Open Studies) scoring 17 points off the bench.

The Kings also swept the Broncos in the season series last February with two victories over the central
Alberta post-secondary school. Guard Eduardo Crespo (Business Diploma) finished the two games with match-highs in points with 22 in the 88-56 win and 29 in the 85-77 victory. After a game at Olds College on Friday night, the Kings will host the Broncos for a game that will tip-off at 8 pm in Red Deer.

Hockey

Queens (11-2) vs Olds College Broncos (2-10)
• Thursday, November 23 | 7 pm in Olds
• Friday, November 24 | 7 pm in Red Deer (Friends and Family night)

Like a lot of the teams inside RDP Athletics, the Queens Hockey team is also riding an impressive winning streak into the final week of game action of 2023. Following two losses against the Lakeland College Rustlers in the second week of the season, the Queens have won the next nine and now sit in first place in the conference. This winning streak includes three important wins over the NAIT Ooks.

The Queens will clash with the Olds College Broncos in their traditional Thursday evening game this week before playing in their final game of the 2023 year against the same Broncos. These two teams opened up the 2023/2024 season against each other with RDP coming out on top with a 3-0 win, backstopped by goaltender Tora Ward’s first ACAC shutout of her college career. Defence Kaedence Mollin (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) had a goal and an assist in the win. The puck will drop at 7 pm in both games.

Kings (4-6) at Briercrest College Clippers (8-2)
• Friday, November 24 | 6 pm
• Saturday, November 25 | 1 pm

After a week off from game action, the Kings will be rested and ready to get back into the win column this weekend. But it will not be easy as they will be on the road in Caronport, SK for both games against the Briercrest College Clippers this weekend. This road trip is never easy as it’s long and both games are less than 24 hours apart with the game on Friday commencing at 6 pm and the puck dropping on Saturday’s game at 1 pm.

The Clippers are going to be tough to beat with an 8-2 record so far this season. They currently sit in second place in the conference while the Kings have a 4-6 record and sit in fifth. On this road trip back in February, the Kings won both games and outscored the Clippers 8-6. RDP was actually victorious in all four games against Briercrest last season. The games can be live streamed on ACACTV.

Volleyball

Queens (7-2) at Lethbridge College Kodiaks (2-5)
• Friday, November 24 | 6 pm
• Saturday, November 25 | 1 pm

The Queens will head south for two matches against the Lethbridge College Kodiaks who will host the
ACAC Women’s Volleyball Championship in February 2024. The last time these two teams faced each other was at the ACAC Championship held at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre just a few months ago. The Queens and Kodiaks battled it out in the bronze medal with RDP coming out on top in the fifth set to cap off the season with a third-place finish.

Outside-hitter Jaiden Ferguson (Business Administration) finished with a match-high 25 kills with the Queens Athlete of the Week, Dani Wiens completing her season with a 24-assist performance.
Middle-blocker Autumn Roos (Bachelor of Education) sits in third place in the conference with 0.69 blocks per set with her teammate Rachel Perry coming in third in service aces, averaging 0.64 per set.
The matches can be live streamed on ACACTV at 6 pm on Friday and 1 pm on Saturday.

Kings (9-0) vs Lethbridge College Kodiaks (4-3)
• Friday, November 24 | 8 pm
• Saturday, November 25 | 3 pm

The Kings will join the Queens on the road trip down south to clash with the Lethbridge College Kodiaks who are coming off a tough road trip up north where they dropped two matches against the Keyano College Huskies and the Lakeland College Rustlers. The Kings have just played two matches in the last two weeks where they were victorious against The Kings University Eagles and most recently, the Concordia University Thunder.

In their two victories last November, the Kings did not drop a set against the Kodiaks. Outside-hitter Colby Nemeth (Bachelor of Commerce) led RDP’s offence with a total of 39 kills in the two matches with teammate Brett Lower (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) right behind him with 38. The Kings will have to keep their eyes out for Kodiaks outside-hitter Nolan Moes who is averaging 3.92 kills per set and sits in second in the conference in this category. Moes combined for 40 kills in the two losses
against RDP last season. The matches will start at 8 pm on Friday and 3 pm on Saturday.

Kings and Queens Curling (Fall Regional Bonspiel)

November 24-26 hosted by Lakeland College at the Lloydminster Golf & Curling Centre

The Red Deer Polytechnic Curling Club will slide into their 2023/2024 season debut this weekend as they compete at the Fall Regional Bonspiel held at the Lloydminster Golf & Curling Centre. Red Deer Polytechnic will compete in all three divisions this season: men’s, women’s and mixed. Head Coach Brad Hamilton expects all three teams to be competitive. The Fall Regional is the first of two
bonspiels the curling club will compete in with the second event taking place in January 2024.

After both events are finished, the top four teams from each division will move on to the ACAC Championships hosted by the SAIT Trojans in Airdrie from February 23-25. Stay tuned for the results on Sunday evening or check out www.acac.ab.ca for up-to-date results following each day of competition. All three teams will start at 3 pm on Friday afternoon.

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