The Avalanche men’s volleyball team was downed by a top Capilano University team.
The Blues were able to take the Jan. 25 and 26 matches 3-0, 3-0 against the College of the Rockies.
“They have the best setter in the country arguably. He was tremendous this weekend and he puts his attackers in really good situations. I thought their offence was a little cleaner than ours,” said head coach Cisco Farrero.
On the first day of play, the Avalanche had leads in all three sets but were unable to keep them.
“[Capilano] is really hard to play against. They touch everything on the block, they defend very well and they had a really specific plan. I don’t know if we got them out of their plan as well as they got us out of ours, so hats off to them,” said Farrero.
Middle blocker Alex Avery said the team played hard on the weekend, but tightening up will be important moving on.
“We just need to tighten things up and make fewer errors than the other team,” he said.
With the team not able to get a win in the sets, Farrero says it shows they have more to work on.
The Avalanche are heading into a bye week before they head out to their final road trip of the season.
“Going into a bye weekend we definitely need it. We are a little banged up, little sore. We have played 11 games in 22 days,” Farrero said.
College of the Rockies is hosting the 2019 PACWEST Volleyball Championships, and have secured their spot in it.
“We are clinched in at least fifth. I don’t think we can actually move up out of fifth anymore. We wanted to get in the dance and we’re going and we are hosting. We are going to be in that four-five quarter-final, that’s where I wanted to be,” said Farrero.
The Avalanche will be heading to the island on Feb. 7 to 10, and the team will continue to try and improve for the road trip.
“I think we figured out how to play better on the road now, so I’m really proud of the guys for that. This next weekend will be tough, I’d like to see if we can put together a complete team effort, so that will be a goal,” said Farrero.
The Avalanche currently have an 8-12 record for 16 points in the standings.
VIU is currently the fourth-ranked team in the PACWEST, while Camosun is the second ranked.
In the first semester, the Avalanche played both teams and lost to them both.
With the four games in four days, managing bodies will be huge, especially since they won’t want to run into injuries when they are already in a playoff position.
jessica.dempsey@cranbrooktownsman.com
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