The Eagles soar high in the final match of their season
Red Deer, February 25, 2023 - The Kings University Eagles finish their season in fifth place as they defeat the Keyano College Huskies in straight sets in the 'B' side final.
The last time these two teams faced off was at the beginning of February when the Eagles would sweep the weekend series, only dropping one set against the Huskies.
It was neck-and-neck to open up this 5th/6th match but slowly and surely, the Eagles would take the lead as their offense was running efficiently, hitting just under .500 with 10 kills. The Huskies were finding a couple of stops along the way, but TKU was adjusting and were able to continue their offensive ways as they took a 21-17 lead into the Huskies final timeout of the set. The Eagles would take the set 25-21 after a huge single block from All-Conference Sam Lieuwen (Bachelor of Environmental Sciences) on the outside.
A couple of big blocks from the Eagles kept their team in the rally which led to right-side Brooke Risselada swinging for her second kill to tie it at six in the set. Like the first set, the Eagles switched gears near the halfway mark which featured many explosive kills from the Edmonton team as they took a 16-12 lead into a Huskies timeout which is partially due to a service run from Lieuwen. The Huskies would answer back with a kill out of their timeout from right-side Hannah Shelemey (Bachelor of Education) which was her first of the match as she came off the bench. Middle Kendall Letwinetz finished the second set with her sixth kill to give her team a 25-19 set victory.
As they look to finish their season off on a high, the Eagles started the third set on a 4-0 run with outside-hitter Samantha Gagnon (Bachelor of Commerce) serving five straight. As they entered a Huskies timeout at 14-7, the Eagles hit seven kills for 14 points and really looked good offensively. It was quite the rally on match point but after a kill error from the Huskies, the Eagles would take the set and match with a final score of 25-14.
The players of the match went to Huskies Hannah Shelemey and Eagles Samantha Silva (Bachelor of Art in Social Sciences). Shelemey came off the bench halfway through the set and made a difference on the right side with three kills and four digs. Silva, an All-Conference middle, had nine kills and two blocks in her team's victory this afternoon.
Setter Jordan Betsworth (Bachelor of Arts in Psychology) explained the fact that they faced adversity all weekend, this three-set victory goes to show this team has a lot of grit and tenacity. She was very thankful for her friends, family and teammates who all got her to this point.
This was the final match for both teams as they look onward to the 2023/2023 season and improve on these results. Congratulations to both the Eagles and Huskies on a well-played championship and on making it this far.