Royals MVB have strong showing at home opener
By Davie Wong, Sports Editor
Week two of PACWEST volleyball action saw the Royals taking on the Bearcats in their regular season home opener. With nearly half the team filled with rookies, for many, this would be their first time in front of the Royals fan base. If they were nervous, it didn’t show.
As we’ve come to expect from Jay Tremonti’s teams, the Royals came out swinging. A full frontal attack caught the Bearcats off guard. The Royals would secure a lead early in the set, and push it all the way, grabbing their first home set win of the year, 25-22.
The second set wasn’t as easy for the Royals as the Bearcats adapted to their all-out aggression. However, as it would turn out, the Royals just had too much quality about them for the Bearcats to handle. A lead became a gap, which then turned into a win for the Royals. 25-19 would be the final set score.
The third set was the closest of them all. The Royals struggled to stay ahead of the Bearcats, fighting over every point of the set with them. When it came to crunch time in the final points of the set, the Royals were able to close out the game while the Bearcats could all but watch. Jared Collins would come out of the game with a massive 31 assists on the night. Jerry Yan had 10 kills for 14 points of total offence for the Royals.
The second game was a slaughter. And that’s putting it nicely. Tremonti let loose with the full extent of his roster and sent a message across the PACWEST: The Royals are no joke. The first set was a warm-up for the squad, with the Royals downing the Bearcats 25-18. The second set saw the Royals speed across the finish line, 25-16.
There were no brakes on the Royals’ attack engine. They blew the Bearcats away in the third set, 25-17. All in all, the Royals looked great. Jared Collin put up 36 assists for the team, and Justin Faester provided the finish with 10 kills and four aces. The team’s rookies had quite the impact as well. Reid Marriot and Keatan Mann finished with a team-leading 11 kills. Marriot had two aces and 14 points of total offence, while Mann had 11 points.
A 2-0 week put the Royals’ first wins of the season on the board. The team sit third in the PACWEST with a record of 2-2, and four points. With the College of the Rockies Avalanche dropping by next week, expect that record to only get better.
