Royals women’s volleyball take down COTR
By Davie Wong, Sports Editor
After their excellent weekend against the CBC Bearcats, the Douglas College Royals were looking to follow up on their hot form and get a streak going. In their way were the College of the Rockies Avalanche. The Avalanche have gone 3-1 in the first two weeks of play and looked good doing so. It would be a nice challenge for a Royals squad that has plenty of growing to do.
And a challenge it was. The Avalanche opened up the first set against the Royals firing on all cylinders. The Royals were more than game, hitting back hard. But the Avalanche had just enough to squeeze over the line, taking the first set 25-23. The Royals answered back immediately with a set of their own, taking the second 25-16.
Their performance got cleaner and cleaner as the night went on. A third set win (25-15), and a fourth set win (25-12), wrapped up the match nicely for the Royals. It was quite the match for Royals outside hitter Vicki Schley and Caet McCorkell. Schley finished with a team high 20 kills, and 20 points. McCorkell had 15 kills and five service aces for 20 points as well. Vania Oliveira finished with 12 kills and 16 points, while Olivia Cesaretti was the most efficient scorer with a .636 kill percentage. Jane Kepler was superb, grabbing 30 assists on the match.
And that was just game one! Game two was also quite exciting. Similar to game one, the Avalanche got off to a great start. 25-21 was what was needed for the Avalanche to overcome the Royals in the first set. But once the Royals got started, they were hard to stop. A dominant second and third set saw the Royals take the lead, winning both sets by a score of 25-13.
Down to the fourth set, both the Royals and Avalanche gave the fans a set to admire. Tight until the end, it would be the Royals who came out on top to take the 2-0 weekend. Vania Oliveira and Caet McCorkell had another big game for their team. Oliveira finished with 18 kills and points, while McCorkell had 13 kills and 14 points. Jane Kepler had 34 assists, three kills, and two services aces in what was a massive effort on her part. The weekends leave the Royals at the top of the table with the UFC Cascades at 5-1.
