A respectable start

 

 

 

 

» Women’s basketball team goes 1-1

Davie Wong
Sports Reporter

he women’s basketball team

is off to a strong start in their
2015-16 campaign. They started
the season with a win and came
home looking for two more.

Their week started on Friday,
when they played the visiting
VIU Mariners in the first of
their 2 games. The Mariners,
who were also coming off a
huge win against Camosun in
the last week, came out playing
physically, fouling three times
while causing the Royals to foul
five times with their consistent
driving. Chances went back and
forth as the teams traded baskets,
ending the quarter tied at 17.

The second quarter was not
as close for the Royals as the

: Mariners went on a 19-point tear.
: Their stellar defensive play kept

: the Royals to just 9 points in that
: quarter, and a total of 10 points

: down going into halftime. The

: situation did not get any better

: for the Royals after the break.

: During the third quarter, VIU

: scored 26 while only allowing

: 10 points on defence as the

: Royals struggled to hit shots

: from outside of the paint.

However the women did not

The action started back up

again the following afternoon as

: the visiting Camosun Chargers

: took on the Royals at home. The
: Chargers, who were also coming
: off a loss, were not expected to

: win this matchup against the

: Royals. Despite losing against

: VIU the previous day, the Royals
: showed signs of brilliance. Sadly
: for the Chargers, that brilliance

: carried over to their matchup.

The story of the Royals

: defence was really the highlight
: : in the first of half the game. They :
: give up; staging an exciting fourth :
: quarter surge that unfortunately
: fell flat. They had simply given

: up too many points during the

: middle of the game to have

: much of a chance rallying for a

: comeback. The Mariners took the :
: game with a final score of 72-50.

were able to limit the Chargers

: to only u points by pressuring
: them and causing them to

: miss shots. The turnovers

: that were forced asa result of
: defensive pressure helped a

lacklustre Royals offence convert

easier. Going into halftime,
: they held a 13 point lead.

It was expected that the

 

: Chargers would come out much
: more composed than they

: looked in the first half. That

: prediction proved sound as they
: came out and nearly doubled

: their points in a tight third

: quarter struggle that saw both
: teams converting chances well.
: During the fourth quarter the

: Royals looked especially shaky;
: giving up 18 points. If not for

: the Chargers disastrous first
half, the Royals would likely

: not have picked up the win.

: But because of that, the Royals
: were able to hold on, 50-39.

: Ina more difficult than

: anticipated week for the team,
: Coach Courtney Gerwing was

: less than pleased with her

: team’s effort and was not shy

: to make it known. “We didn’t

: do anything we practiced [for

Photos by Davie Wong

: VIU]. They didn’t do anything
: that we didn’t anticipate”.

Looking forward, Gerwing

: also spoke on how she will

: be preparing for the next two

: games. “J don’t think we shot well
: anywhere. Our shot selection

: wasn’t good and we intend to

: improve on that. Part of that has
: to do with how tough we are. We
: need to get tougher inside and
change the mentality to bring

: more energy to our game.”

The women look to continue

: their success next week at home
: as they take on Quest University,
: who have gone undefeated so

: far, and the Langara Falcons,

: who are part of the four-way

: tie with a 2-1 record. Friday’s
game against Quest starts at

: 6 p.m. while Saturday’s game

: against Langara starts at 5 p.m.

 

Player profile: Angus Ireland

» Co-captain of the men’s volleyball team

Davie Wong
Sports Reporter

At: Ireland is a fourth year
player and one of the two
captains for the Royals men’s
volleyball team. In his four years
with the squad, he has switched
between the role of setter and
libero, going wherever was need-
ed by the team. His positions
were never the ones of glory, but
his leadership and work ethic has
been the defensive backbone of
the Royals squad. Outside of vol-
leyball, Angus is working on his
Bachelor of Business Administra-
tion with a major in Accounting.
Growing up, Angus played
largely other sports. He made
the transition to volleyball in
his Grade 10 after realizing how
much he enjoyed the tactical
and cerebral aspects of the
game. While other sports he’s

: played have a certain amount
: of tactics as well, volleyball

: was the sport where he found
: that strategy played a larger

: role than physical ability.

This year, as hosts of the

: National Championships,

: Angus hopes to make a good

: showing throughout the season

: to earn their berth instead of

: being given a spot. He believes

: that the team has the skill,

: experience, and hunger to contest
: for the top spot this year.

In the future, Angus is

: looking to play less competitively,
: focusing on working towards

: his CPA with a long-term

: goal in finding a career ina

: small accounting firm. While

: he still wishes to play at a

: competitive level, he will be

: looking to play mainly beach
volleyball during the summer.

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Photo by Davie Wong