Douglas weekly preview

» A look at this week's matchups

Davie Wong
Sports Reporter

Men’s Basketball:

The men are coming home
this week to close out the month
of January. It has largely been a
successful month for the squad
that came into January with just
two wins. This week, they will
look to finish the month strong
against the middle-of-the-table
Capilano Blues.

It’s been a long time since
the two teams last met—the
beginning of the season to be
exact. Since then, the Royals
have undergone a significant
overhaul in terms of play style
and quality. The Blues, however,
have refined their hyper-
offensive strategy.

Both teams will be coming
off losses to VIU in the previous
week, so look for them both
to try turn back to a winning

: strategy. For the Blues, that

: would be leaning on their young
: shooters who have dominated

: the league in terms of points

: this year. The Royals will need

: to shut them down early if they
: want to win.

This will be the only game

: this weekend for the team. The
: game starts at 8 p.m. at Douglas
: College (New Westminster

; Campus).

Women’s Basketball:
Playing the opening match

: of the weekend is the scorching
: Royals. Visiting them are the

: third place Capilano Blues who
: are looking to move up in the

: standings. The last time these

: two met, Douglas picked up an
: early lead in the first half that

: lead toa win. Capilano madea
: substantial push in the second
: half but could not overcome the
: lead that they gave up earlier.

A lot of time has passed

: since then. Both teams have

: improved substantially but

: the Royals have looked much

: better overall. Since that game,
: the team has improved their

: defensive abilities ten-fold and
: have gotten much better in the
: second half of games.

Look for the Royals to push

hard in the first half to graba
: sizable lead and then slow their
: play to shut out the Blues.

Men’s Volleyball:
A much anticipated rematch

: is in the wings for the men this
: week. The team will travel tothe :
: island to play long-time rival :
: VIU for the third and fourth
: time this season.

It has just been little over

a month since these two giants
: last clashed. The end result was
: a split weekend with both sides
: barely walking away with wins.
: Each and every set was heavily
: contested by both teams, but it

: was the team that got the early

: lead in a set that usually took it. :
: When these teams play each :
: other, there is usually alot more :
: than pride at stake. This time is

: no different. The winner of this

: series will solidify their position
: inthe standings at second place,
: barring a Camosun collapse.

For the Royals, the key to

: this game will be how they start. :
: The team needs to come out

: hard and attack VIU. If they

: can even get a few points ahead
: of their rival, that should be

: enough to decide a set.

Women’s Volleyball:
The women have a much

: different matchup on their

: hands. Although they will also
: travel to the island to play VIU,
: they are in for a much harder

: challenge. VIU’s women’s team
: sits atop of the PACWEST

: standings. The closest team to
: catching them is three games

: away from doing so. VIU, for the
: most part, has looked absolutely

unstoppable this season.
But luckily for the Royals,

: recent results have rendered the
: Mariners very much stoppable.

: Since coming back from the

: break, VIU has split games in

: two straight weekends. One

: of those losses was to UFV—a

team below the Royals in the

standings.

The last time VIU came to

: play, the ladies almost handed

: thema loss. They forced the

: visiting team into a desperate

: fifth set, which was something

: that had never happened to

: them in the season. Since then,

: VIU have been in two other

: games that have gone to five sets:
: one two weeks ago and one last

: week.

If there is a time to upset

the rulers of the PACWEST
: standings, now would be it.

 

To the top they go

» Women’s basketball solidifies dominance

of league

Davie Wong
Sports Reporter

AM the start of the season,
only head coach Courtney
Gerwing could see the immense
skill and the unlimited potential
of her squad. Now, after their
wins this weekend, the entire
league has been forced to
recognize just how dangerous
this Douglas squad can be on the
court.

Friday’s game against the
middle-of-the-table Camosun
resulted in a textbook win for
the Royals. The defence-first
mentality of the team allowed
them to build on leads while
squashing the opposition’s
chances.

Sloppy play allowed the
visiting Royals to pick up a
whopping 14 steals and cause
27 turnovers. Camosun’s star
shooter, Kathryn Candell, shot
8 for 23 and was shut down for
the most part of the matchup.
Meanwhile, Rachel Beauchamp
was outstanding for the Royals,
going 7/7 in her free throws
and 5/9 outside of that fora
total of 17 points. Great effort
from players off the bench
allowed the team to constantly
apply pressure to a crumbling
Camosun team.

After that commanding
victory, it was over to Vancouver
Island University (VIU) to close
out the week. In a clash of titans,
the fiery-offensive squad of VIU

: faced off against the ironclad

: defence of the Royals. Both

: teams came into the game on red
: hot streaks with neither willing

: to budge an inch.

: The game did not disappoint
: in terms of dramatics. The

: Royals jumped out to an early

: lead on and never let go. VIU

: came close to re-taking the lead

: a couple of times, but excellent

: defence by Douglas allowed the

: team to outscore the opposition.

It was clear that the Royals

: had prepared well for the game

: ahead of time. Proper guarding

: and spectacular play reading

: gave them the edge they needed.
: While 3 of VIU’s shooters shot

: more than 15 times throughout

: the game, they converted on less
: than a third.

Meanwhile, Douglas

: shooters had no problems

: converting their shots. Four out
: of the starting five players shot
: for at least .500, with one player
: in particular having a standout
: performance.

Fourth-year player Nanaya

: Miki was fantastic on the court
: against VIU. She shot 7-11 with a
: total of 17 points and claimed a
: massive 12 rebounds to complete

: her second double-double of the

: season.

With the two wins, the

Royals move into sole possession
: of first place in the PACWEST

: conference. They also extend

: their winning streak to 1 games
: as they steam toward February.

 

Image via www.douglascollegeroyals.ca