By Davie Wong

While basketball headed into their semester break, volleyball still had a couple of gems to offer us before the semester winded down. Taking each other on in back to back games were some come the CCAA’s best volleyball teams; The Douglas College Royals, and the VIU Mariners.

               On the men’s side, it was a hard battle for the Royals. The Mariners are nearly undefeated this semester, only dropping a single game to the Capilano Blues. The Royals are impressing many with their style of play and came into the game with a record of 5-5.

               An excellent first set by the Mariners saw the Royals fall behind, with the final set score being 25-17. But the Royals are a feisty team, and they fought back in the second set. It was a battle until the end, and it would be the Royals that came out on top, taking the set 26-24. The third set would be a set score replay of the first, as the Mariners found a way to regain their form and start closing the door on the Royals. Reeling, the Royals fought as hard as they could but couldn’t hold off the Mariners, as they took the final set, 25-17, and won the game 3 sets to 1.

               The second game was a tough result for the Royals, despite an excellent show of effort. The team dropped three straight sets to the best team in the PACWEST. Final scores were 25-17, 25-18, and 25-13.

               The weekend’s results put the men at 5-7 headed into the semester break. They are currently fifth in the PACWEST with 10 points.

               On the women’s side of the matchup, the Royals came into the match trailing the Mariners by a single loss. A sweep on the weekend would give them the top spot in the PACWEST standings. With that in mind, the ladies came into Friday’s game with a goal in mind. They showed the Mariners just how badly they wanted to win with a tremendous first set effort, taking it 25-13. The Mariners would rally in the second, and come back into the game with a second set victory, 25-17.

               A slip-up in the third set gave the Mariners a look at light, but the Royals shut those doors quickly, and closed out their lead, winning the third set with a score of 25-23. From there, it was clinical closing that allowed the Royals to take the final set, 25-22, and take a game off the Mariners, 3 sets to 1.

               The rematch of the game was different result, but no less the battle. The Mariners showed their mental fortitude with a sweeping victory in rematch. But the Royals battled them every step of the way, and the sets could have gone either way. The final score was 25-21, 25-22, and 25-23, in the Mariners favor.

               The loss resets the ladies in the standings, with the Royals occupying the second spot in the PACWEST with a record of 9-3 headed into the break.