The Kings defeated in the gold medal match, come home with silver

Fort McMurray, February 25, 2023 – The Briercrest College Clippers came out on top as they defeated and upset the Red Deer Polytechnic Kings in the gold medal match of the ACAC Men's Volleyball Championships.

It was quite a long time ago since these two teams faced each other. It was the first weekend of Alberta College Athletic Conference Volleyball action back in October when these two teams would split their two matches against each other. The Kings would be victorious in four sets but fall in three straight sets the following day.

It was quite the final match of the day of the ACAC Men's Volleyball Championships. Both teams went neck-and-neck with each other from start to finish of the opening set. It went past 25 points as the Clippers and Kings just did not crack under pressure but after an error from Kings Noah Carlson (Open Studies), Briercrest would take the opening set 31-29.

Outside-hitter Karym Coleman was the big difference in the second set as he was on fire on the right side coming up with big kills which led to the Clippers picking up a 32-30 set victory, putting pressure on the Kings.

The Kings came out of the gate fast and on all cylinders, as they looked to defend their championship in a do-or-die situation with a loss meaning their season is over with no wild-card spot for the ACAC. With this pressure, the Kings stepped up to the plate and jumped out to a 10-2 lead. But after a timeout called by the Clippers coaching staff, they managed to tie the match up, but it would slip away as the Kings offense was on fire in the fourth set. The Polytechnic would take the set 25-18 after Coleman sent the ball long.

This loss shockingly pumped up the Clippers as they would go up 7-2 on the Kings as they looked to win their first championship since 2011. The Kings would slowly but surely creep back into this set but could not come closer than two points as they were down 22-20 as they went into a Clippers timeout. Unfortunately, the Kings would be on the wrong side of an upset and they would be defeated 25-23 after yet another kill from Coleman.

In his final game as a Kings student-athlete, setter Maddux Greves was named the Polytechnic's player of the match as he once again played his heart out and put it all on the line.

The Clippers will represent the ACAC at nationals hosted by Humber College in Oakville, ON from March 8-11.