The Kings have re-claimed the throne. Following two straight years out of the medals at the ACAC men’s volleyball championships, the Red Deer College Kings returned to the top spot with a four set win over the host Lethbridge College Kodiaks.

“It really never gets old,” said Kings coach Aaron Schulha. “We’ve had a lot of success in our program, I was lucky enough to be part of a few as a player, we won a few over the last little while as coaches as well, but it's a different journey every year with a different group. I’m just really, really proud of the way this group came along.”

A standing room only crowd filled the Val Matteotti Gymnasium at Lethbridge College to watch two of the top three ranked teams in the country square off for the gold medal at the Murray Chevrolet Cadillac ACAC Men’s Volleyball Championship.

In the opening set, the Kodiaks gave the hometown fans plenty of reason to roar. Playing in the Val Matteotti Gymnasium for the final time in his storied career, senior outside hitter Carter Hansen (fifth year, General Studies, Magrath) was a force all over the court, picking up four kills, an ace and block as the Kodiaks jumped out to the lead with a 25-23 win. Hansen ended the game with a team-high 16 kills.

But the momentum stalled in the second set as Red Deer upped the pressure and the Kodiaks were unable to respond. Lethbridge committed 12 errors as the Kings battled back to even the game with a 25-19 win. Patrik Toze (fourth year, Bachelor of Kinesiology, Brisbane, Australia) and Ben Holmes (fourth year, Bachelor of Arts, Red Deer) formed a formidable duo early in the match, as Toze had five kills and an ace in the first set, while Holmes led the Kings with four kills in the second set. It was a momentum swing that the Kodiaks were never able to recover from.

“In critical moments, Red Deer was super clean,” said Kodiaks coach Greg Gibos. “We knew part of their game plan was to come in and not make any errors, and I think in moments of high intensity and high stress, they were a little bit stronger mentally than us. And I wouldn't say that our performance was poor by any stretch of the imagination, we just lost a really good team.”

The Kings continued to show the veteran poise that led them to seven-straight ACAC medals from 2011 to 2017 in the third set, as the Kings won 25-20. ACAC Rookie of the Year Carter Hills (first year, Bachelor of Education Science, Legal, AB) led the Kings with four kills. Hansen did his best to keep the Kodiaks in the game, with seven kills, along with a block and an ace.

Red Deer led throughout most of the fourth set, but were pushed by the Kodiaks right until the end before they pulled out a 25-23 victory to seal the match. Hills had three more kills to help the Kings to the win, while Michael Hummel (fifth year, General Studies, Picture Butte) led the Kodiaks in the final set with four blocks and two kills.

The win was the 13^th-straight for the Kings, who will be a high seed at the CCAA national championship tournament.

“I wasn't with the team in the first half – I was on a medical leave – so there's emotions there,” says Schulha. “For my assistant coaches to step in the way they did to get the guys all primed for the second half, and then I was able to come back and, and kind of see it through with them, it's pretty emotional.

“I'm just really proud of the way that the guys stepped up. Obviously it was a great crowd and a very good team on the other side. I think that the two best teams were in the final that's the way it should be.”

Toze had 15 kills for the Kings and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

“It's really something of beauty for us to come in and win,” said Toze. “We knew it was going to be such a tough game, they are an amazing team and to come into their home gym with the crowd, we knew it was going to be tough. But one of the big things was to stay together as a team and as a group of friends and we did that. I’m absolutely happy.”

The silver medal is the second straight for the Kodiaks. Both teams now advance to the CCAA National Championship from March 11 to 14, hosted by St. Thomas University in Fredericton, N.B.

Players of the game:

Red Deer – Carter Hills
Lethbridge – Quinn Buchanan

Tournament MVP:

Patrik Toze – Red Deer

Tournament all-star team:

Carter Hansen – Lethbridge
Tony Albizzati – Lethbridge
Michael Hummel – Lethbridge
Carter Hills – Red Deer
Tom Wass – Red Deer
Bryton Codd – Briercrest
Maddux Greves – SAIT