The Douglas College Royals men's and women's volleyball teams both won back to back home games against the College of the Rockies Avalanche on this past week, continuing Douglas's momentum in the new year.
On Thursday January 9th both teams ousted the Avalanche 3-1, with the women having a night of career highs as both outside hitters Emma Schill and Grace Warkentin each eclipsed their individual record in kills, with 21 and 16 respectively. The men's teams would equal the women's effort as Max Haronga's season high 21 kills combined with the Royals outstanding defence limited the Avalanche's scoring to under 20 points in each set, in the Royals victory.
However, the win on Thursday proved to be relatively less challenging than what was to come on Friday, as both the men and women were put to the test the following night.
Both teams would each end up being on the verge of defeat in Friday's match-up, as the women faced a 2-0 deficit heading into the 3rd set, and the men were down 2-1 heading into the fourth.
Key scores from third-year outside hitter Ben Shand in the fourth set helped the men get even while a quick time-out and strategic regrouping in the 3rd set helped the women settle into a rhythm. The teams would end the 4th set with 9-3 and 6-1 point runs respectively to send the games to the final frame.
In the fifth, the women's momentum from the previous sets would continue as the Royals found stable ground and finished the fifth 15-9. And although the fifth set would still be a close one for the men, kills from Royals outside hitters Max Haronga, Greg Moore and second year middle-blocker Rajan Gill helped the men close off the Avalanche 15-13.
Last week's pair of victories proved pivotal for both team's place in the PACWEST conference standings as the men now remain in first with 26 points, while the women bumped up from the fourth to third seed after last week's victories with 16 points.
The Royals next home game will be on February 1st against the Camoson Chargers.
