Men’s Volleyball team soars against CBC
By Davie Wong, Sports Editor
It’s been a while since the Royals men’s volleyball team has tasted victory. Nearly two months to be exact. Their last win was clocked in November, and the team was in desperate need of a morale booster.
Their slump comes at a time when playoffs are right around the corner and points begin to matter even more than normal. This week, the PACWEST saw them playing against the Columbia Bible College Bearcats in a battle between two lower table teams. But from the way both teams played, you could never tell.
A win against the Bearcats was never guaranteed, but for some of the players, it was expected. However, the Bearcats weren’t going to go down easy. In Bearcats style, they would fight until the last point, and you could see that right from the start. The first set saw the Douglas squad start strong into the game and seize their chances, going up 1–0 on a 25–22 set win.
The second set proved much easier for the Douglas team as the players set themselves up at a new level and absolutely brought the house down on the Bearcats. They took that set 25–15 and went into the third set with their head held high and their confidence on the rise. But the Bearcats would not go down without a fight. They stormed their way back into the game, keeping themselves alive on the board long enough to secure a set win.
With momentum in their hand, the CBC team thrashed the Royals in a fourth set, 25–18 to force a fifth and decisive set. It would be here that the Royals broke out of their rut and snapped back into game form, taking a strong win against the Bearcats, 15–7.
The next game the two played was the next day. Like the day before, the Royals started out strongly, but had to fight to close the first set, eventually taking it 25–23. The second set was similar, but the Douglas squad had begun closing in the distance when the Bearcats fought back. By the time the Bearcats were in full fighting form, the Royals had put the touch on the final point of the set, taking it 25–22.
But the Bearcats were ready now. They came into the third set swinging, and just unloaded on the Royals. The barrage was a little much for the team, and they dropped the third set 25–22. Determined to not let it get to another five set game, the men turned the burner on and left the Bearcats in the dust. They finished the game with a 25–17 set win to cap the game at 3–1.
Their sweep of the weekend allowed them to finish in fourth place in the PACWEST to end the week. They sit two games behind third-place Camosun, and a game ahead of COTR and Capilano, who occupy fifth and sixth.