Skip to content

Avs beat up Bearcats in PACWEST volleyball

The College of the Rockies Avalanche volleyball teams travelled to the Lower Mainland to open the PACWEST season this past weekend

Taylor Rocca

The College of the Rockies Avalanche men's and women's volleyball teams opened their 2014-15 PACWEST schedules on the road this past weekend in the Lower Mainland.

The Avalanche women got off to an admirable start, coming home with two wins through four games over the weekend. The ladies blanked the Columbia College Bearcats (25-15, 27-25, 28-26) Oct. 23 before wrapping up the weekend with a five-set win (22-25, 25-21, 24-26, 25-18, 15-11) over the Bearcats Oct. 26.

"[I'm] ecstatic. The girls are doing exactly what I thought they could do," said Avs women's volleyball coach Andrew Zurrin Tuesday afternoon.

"They struggled on Sunday [against the Bearcats] because of fatigue. The scores shouldn't have been that close. Their brains were really, really tired, you could tell. They made some silly errors, which kept the other team in the game."

Zurrin was able to work 13 of his 14 players onto the court over the course of the weekend, a testament to the depth of his bench.

The ladies also visited University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) Oct. 24 and 25, falling in to the Cascades 3-0 (21-25, 23-25, 22-25) and 3-1 (26-24, 22-25, 18-25, 21-25), respectively.

The men opened their weekend with three consecutive losses, including a five-set defeat at the hands of the Columbia Bible College Bearcats Oct. 23. The Avalanche men were then buried in consecutive games by the UFV Cascades Oct. 24 and 25.

The Avs men closed out the weekend on a high note, earning a five-set victory over the Bearcats Oct. 26.

Both Avalanche squads will take the Halloween weekend off before opening the home portion of their 2014-15 PACWEST schedules Nov. 7 when the Camosun College Chargers visit College of the Rockies.

Zurrin said the women will make use of the week away from game action to scout upcoming opponents and work on additional offensive plays.

"We have to work on some blocking [as well]," Zurrin added. "If we would have had some better blocking, we would have taken a couple of those matches from UFV."

Avalanche Volleyball upcoming games:

Nov. 7 vs. Camosun (Women at 6 p.m.; Men at 8 p.m.)Nov. 8 vs. Camosun (Women at 1 p.m.; Men at 3 p.m.)

PACWEST Men's Standings:

1) Douglas College Royals (4-0); 2) UFV Cascades (3-1); 3) VIU Mariners (3-1); 4) Columbia Bible College Bearcats (2-2); 5) Camosun College Chargers (1-3); 6) COTR Avalanche (1-3); 7) Capilano University Blues (0-4)

PACWEST Women's Standings:

1) Camosun College Chargers (4-0); 2) UFV Cascades (4-0); 3) Capilano University Blues (3-1); 4) COTR Avalanche (2-2); 5) VIU Mariners (1-3); 6) Columbia Bible College Bearcats (0-4); 7) Douglas College Royals (0-4)