By Josh Martin, Sports Editor
Itâs that time of year again! The leaves are starting to fall off the trees and Thanksgiving is just around the corner, which means volleyball season! The Royals menâs volleyball team is coming off a very successful year after having won the PACWEST provincial title. This season, theyâre looking like a more balanced team rather than a two-man show, after losing some key players at last seasonâs end.
âWith Jeff [Taylor] gone and also Dawson [Kaleb Dawe] we have more of a balanced attack instead of just tossing it up to Jeff the giant. Weâre spreading the sets around more and hitting left side, right side, pipes, middles, and all around. All four guys,â said Lucas DeCoste who recently made the switch to the Douglas College menâs volleyball team after playing for two years with the menâs basketball team. DeCoste will join a team that looks to repeat as PACWEST Provincial champions and hopefully go on to win Nationals this year.
âThere were a number of factors [in switching to the volleyball team], one of them being I knew some guys on the volleyball team and I wanted to play volleyball straight out of high school. But our volleyball team in high school wasnât all that great compared to our basketball team. So having a more competitive basketball team, I decided to play basketball first year.
âI came out and had a good summer training camp and made the switch.â
The Royals begin their season with back-to-back games against the Capilano Blues on Friday October 12 and October 13. The womenâs team will face the Blues at Capilano on Friday at 6 p.m. and will head home for the home opener at 6 p.m. on Saturday. The menâs team will be facing the Blues at 8 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday.
The menâs soccer team tied the Kwantlen Eagles on Saturday 1â1, and then beat them on Sunday by a score of 2â0. They are currently second in the standings with 17 points, behind the VIU Mariners who are sitting in first position with 18 points. Next weekend theyâll face the TRU Timberwolves on Saturday at 3 p.m. and the UBCO Heat on Sunday at 2 p.m., both games at home.
The womenâs soccer team tied the Eagles this past Saturday 1â1 and then tied them again on Sunday 0â0. They are in seventh position in the standings with seven points. They will face the Timberwolves this Saturday at 1 p.m. and the Heat on Sunday at 12 p.m. in Coquitlam.
