the other press Sports tarting 15 minutes early because of the shortness of the omen’s match, the Douglas College Men's volleyball eam’s match against the CBC Bearcats was a stark contrast o the women’s match even though the end result was also sweep, this one for the Bearcats. From the opening serve ere was intensity and emotion on the part of both teams. oming into the game, the Royals sat in 6th place despite 710 record and trailed the Sth place Bearcats by just 2 oints. Because the Royals had won fewer games (24) than oth CBC (31) and 7th place UCC (29), a victory was mperative to ensure them a chance of earning a spot in the rovincial Championships at Malaspina. Unfortunately for the Royals, a spot in the playoffs was ot to be. Because of their loss and UCC’s victory against apilano, they will finish the season in 7th place, out of he playoff picture. The first game of the match didn’t get off to the start the oyals needed. Early in the game they trailed 6-2 and were ever able to recover during the opening game. However, anks to some strong play, they were able to close the gap jo just two points, 22—20. A few minutes later, the Royals ad cut the lead to 1 with the score 23-22. Unfortunately, is would be the last point the Royals would get in the ame, as the Bearcats held off the charge and won the game 5-22. During the first game, Jeff Payne and Mike Sunnus ade their presence felt with numerous kills and blocks. so of note during the first game was the unveiling of the oyals mascot, who entertained the most boisterous crowd f the season during timeouts. The second game got off to a better start for the Royals, s they were able to take a 7—5 lead during the early stages here's very little that can be said about the Royals vic- ry over the CBC Bearcats that the scoreboard doesn't. ith game scores of 25-12, 25-11 and 25-12, the ouglas College Women’s volleyball team finished their CCAA season in fine fashion, trouncing the CBC earcats 3-0. They finished the season with a record of ~9. Unfortunately, this record was not good enough to m the team a trip to Malaspina for the Provincial hampionships. It does, however, suggest that the future f the Women’s volleyball team looks positive should the oyals key players return to Douglas College next season. The Royals were clearly the more skilled and desperate m on Friday as they marched out to a commanding 0-0 lead during the first game and never looked back. uring this string, it looked like the Royals were aiming ra shut-out. It wasn’t to be but they still took the game ith little difficulty. After the Royals took the first game 5-12, a CBC player remarked, with surprise in her ice, “we got over 10 points?” This sums up the night http://otherpress.douglas.bc.ca Bearcats Dispatch Royals in of the game. They would continue to build on this lead, increasing their margin to four, 10-6. From there, though, the Bearcats were able to battle back, cutting into the Royals lead as they scored four of the next five points to make the score 1110 in favour of the Royals. The Royals would continue to lead, although not by a margin of more than two, until the Bearcats knotted the score at 16 off of a Royals miscue. The rest of the game would go back and forth as one team would score a few points and the other would respond with two or three of their own. Neither team was able to get the two-point margin required to take the game and the score continued to climb. It seemed like this game might mean the Royal’s season would be an uphill climb if they needed to come back from a 20 point deficit. Unfortunately, this is just what happened as the Bearcats outlasted the Royals in the game, 29-27. Mike Sunnus, who was solid the entire match, continued his fine play, as did Ryan Steele, who was a key contributor during the second game. Coming out for the third set, the Royals seemed demor- alized after losing the marathon in the second game. They were unable to put up much resistance, showing fatigue despite some strong play from Darryl Wind, a player that had been contained quite well by the Bearcats during the previous two games. With the Royals trailing 20, it never felt like they would be able to mount a comeback like they had done a few times earlier in the season. CBC took the third game by its biggest margin of the match, 25-17, end- ing the Royals season. Mike Sunnus, for his strong play throughout the match, was named the Douglas College Player of the Game. oyals Sweep Bearcats February 26, 2003 photos by Devon Lewis for the Bearcats who gave away numerous points off of unforced miscues. The Royals exploited every one of the Bearcat’s mistakes, never allowing more than 12 points in any of the three games. As a result, the match took just 54 minutes to complete, a far cry from some of the marathon matches that the Royals have participated in this season. Because the Royals were so dominant, there was little intensity after the first game, as it seemed that both teams just wanted the match to be over. While the Royals were able to benefit from a number of Bearcat mistakes, there were also a number of strong performances. Colleen Ma contributed a number of kills as did Anna Stec, Sandra- Joy Unaegbu, Wanda Jemmott, Stacey Cassidy, and Lana Henley. One of the strongest aspects of the Royals game during Friday’s contest was their serving as they were able to record a number of service winners and aces. Summer Davis, Anna Stec, Ma, Jemmott, Unaegbu, Cassidy all demonstrated fine form in their service game, ending ral- lies before they began. Because of this, the Bearcats couldn't form any sort of attack and were unable to find a way to stop the Royals’ serving prowess. The third game was the closest of the three, probably because the Royals had, by that point, gone into cruise control realizing that it was just a matter of time before the Royals closed out the match. Even during this game, though, the closest score during the game was 1-0. After that, though, the Royals continued to build up a big lead on their way to the victory. For her many offensive contributions during the match, Stacey Cassidy was named the Royals Player of the Game. The victory cemented the Royals in 7th place with 18 points, two points behind OUC for the final playoff spot. Considering the display of ability the Royals put on Friday, the future looks bright for the team next season if all of the core players return to Douglas College. oie s 666 918 he ORs page 17 © See ee