By Barry Coulter
And files from pacwestbc.ca
The 2023/24 regular season has finished up for the College of the Rockies volleyball program, with a weekend brace of matches against Capilano College on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 16 and 17.
For the COTR Avalanche men’s squad, ranked number one in Canada for the past several weeks, it’s now off to the PACWEST Championships this coming weekend.
COTR is now ranked number 2 in Canada, after Red Deer College.
The tournament will be hosted by the Douglas College Royals at their home court in New Westminster.
The Women’s Avalanche team are done for the year, having finished out of the playoff seeding, and will look ahead to next fall.
A COTR on Friday, on the Women’s side, the Capilano College Blues beat the Avalanche three sets to one, winning 25-19,22-25, 25-20 and 25-19. The Avs came back to win the next day, Saturday, with a 3-1 win of their own, 21-25,25-19, 25-22, and 25-17.
On the Mens’ side on Friday, the Blues took the match from the Avs in a tightly fought four sets, winning 34-32, 32-30, 23-25 and 26-24. The Avs returned the favour on Saturday, with a 3-0 victory over the Blues, 26-24, 25-20, 25-23.
The Women’s Avalanche team finished up the season with a 5-15 record. Along with Columbia Bible College, they are out of the playoffs.
The Men’s Avalanche hold on to their top ranking, with a 16-4 record, 32 points, and top seed at the upcoming provincials.
The 2024 volleyball PACWEST championship tournament is set to begin on Friday February 23, on the campus of Douglas College. Four teams have qualified. The semi-finals are set for Friday, and on Saturday the medal matches will take place, with the winner punching their ticket to the National Championship. These will be held at Camosun College in Victoria in March.
As pacwestbc.ca writes, for the first time in school history the COTR Avalanche are the top seeded team heading into the championship tournament. They will face the fourth seeded Douglas Royals and a hostile home crowd with the Royals hosting the championship.
The Avalanche are coming into this postseason winning four of their last five and ranked second in the country as per the CCAA power rankings. The Royals meanwhile are the hottest team in the PACWEST winning six straight, haven’t dropped a set in the month of February and were 8-2 on their home floor during the regular season.
The two teams met in the Bronze medal match last year at the PACWEST championships in Cranbrook, with the Avalanche winning. The Avs also beat the Royals for Bronze in 2022, and from the fourth seed position. So watch out for rivalry!
The winner of this coming Friday’s match-up will move on to play for gold on Saturday.
Vancouver Island University (VIU), themselves ranked fourth in Canada and the second seed at provincials, will take on the Camosun Chargers in the other men’s semi-final on Friday.
On the Women’s side, the Royals meet the Blues in a Friday’s semi-final, while the top seeded VIU Mariners take on the defending PACWEST champion and fourth seeded Camosun Chargers in the other women’s semi-final.
At the CCAA Championships in Victoria in March, PACWEST will be represented by two teams — the winner of the PACWEST championships and the host Camosun College Chargers.
With files from pacwestbc.ca