The College of the Rockies women’s volleyball team came away with one win in four games this weekend.
The Avalanche were on the road to face Columbia Bible College (CBC) and the University of Fraser Valley (UFV).
After dropping their first match Jan. 17 against the Bearcats 3-1, the team came back to win the second match 3-1.
“To get a split with CBC was fine. Obviously, I’d like two in a row,” said head coach John Swanson.
The team then dropped both matches against the Cascades 3-0 on Jan. 19 and 20.
“UFV is a very good team. They are quite experienced and all those kinds of things,” said Swanson, noting it’s not an excuse, but on day three and four it’s hard to come out as strong as they wanted.
“But, on a positive, it gave us an opportunity to get some other players to play and get experience. I thought they played very hard and battled.”
The team is currently 4-14 with eight points on the season.
Struggles on serve/receive were evident throughout the weekend, but Swanson said the other aspects such as digs and blocks were good.
“On the defence side of the ball, it was great. Offensively we just struggled a little bit,” he said.
Overall, he wants the team to pass better and said it should help with their kills (statistics), which has been a factor the team has been focusing on to improve.
The Avalanche are back in their home gym this weekend with a doubleheader against Capilano University. The Blues sit two points behind the Avalanche in the PACWEST standings with a 3-13 record for six points.
“It will be a big one,” said Swanson. “They are competitive and all teams are competitive. There are no easy matches whoever is playing each other, but we will have to be sharp and we have to take home-court advantage and the energy we can get from the crowd … to come out with some confidence and play with lots of energy.”
The team previously played Capilano on their opening weekend in October and split the games, winning the first 3-0 and then losing the second match 3-2.
This weekends matchup is the final time in the regular season that the Avalanche will be playing at home before they host the PACWEST 2019 Volleyball Championships.
“They should come out and have lots of energy and compete at a high-level and perform well,” said Swanson about what he expects from the team this weekend.
First serve on Jan. 25 is 6 p.m., and then Jan. 26 first serve will be 1 p.m. at the College of the Rockies gym.
jessica.dempsey@cranbrooktownsman.com
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