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Brushing away the competition

> Royals MVB have strong showing at home opener

Davie Wong
Sports Editor

 

Ws two of PACWEST volleyball
action saw the Royals taking on
the Bearcats in their regular season
home opener. With nearly half the team
filled with rookies, for many, this would
be their first time in front of the Royals
fan base. If they were nervous, it didn’t
show.

As we've come to expect from Jay
Tremonti’s teams, the Royals came out
swinging. A full frontal attack caught
the Bearcats off guard. The Royals would
secure a lead early in the set, and push it
all the way, grabbing their first home set
win of the year, 25-22.

The second set wasn’t as easy for the
Royals as the Bearcats adapted to their
all-out aggression. However, as it would
turn out, the Royals just had too much
quality about them for the Bearcats to
handle. A lead became a gap, which then
turned into a win for the Royals. 25-19
would be the final set score.

The third set was the closest of them
all. The Royals struggled to stay ahead
of the Bearcats, fighting over every point
of the set with them. When it came to
crunch time in the final points of the
set, the Royals were able to close out the

game while the Bearcats could all but
watch. Jared Collins would come out of
the game with a massive 31 assists on the
night. Jerry Yan had 10 kills for 14 points
of total offence for the Royals.

The second game was a slaughter.
And that’s putting it nicely. Tremonti let
loose with the full extent of his roster
and sent a message across the PACWEST:
The Royals are no joke. The first set was
a warm-up for the squad, with the Royals
downing the Bearcats 25-18. The second
set saw the Royals speed across the finish
line, 25-16.

There were no brakes on the Royals’
attack engine. They blew the Bearcats
away in the third set, 25-17. All in all, the
Royals looked great. Jared Collin put up
36 assists for the team, and Justin Faester
provided the finish with 10 kills and four
aces. The team’s rookies had quite the
impact as well. Reid Marriot and Keatan
Mann finished with a team-leading 1
kills. Marriot had two aces and 14 points
of total offence, while Mann had 11
points.

A 2-0 week put the Royals’ first wins
of the season on the board. The team sit
third in the PACWEST with a record of
2-2, and four points. With the College
of the Rockies Avalanche dropping by
next week, expect that record to only get
better.

‘Threepeats’ are
for legacies

> Royals WSOC do the improbable

Davie Wong
Sports Editor

 

he Royals women’s soccer team has

done with unthinkable; or rather
the lightly spoken of. Very rarely does
a team become so dominant that they
are at the top of the league for years
at a time. For three years in a row, the
Douglas College Royals have finished at
the top of the PACWEST league. This
year, their record of 7-3-2 and 23 points
have earned them the self-proclaimed
title of “Best Regular Season Record.” But
before that was true, the Royals needed
to defeat a season rival, one more time.

The Capilano Blues stood in the way
of the Royals’ achievement. A loss from
the Royals would leave them at second,
but a win would net them everything. The
game’s stakes, which were massive, got
the best from both teams. The Royals got
the ball rolling early, at the expense of a
Capilano player. The ball, sent towards the
net, would bounce off a Blue and into the
net for a1-o lead at the six minute mark.

The Royals would have a couple more
tries in the half, but could not convert
on an aware Blue’s keeper. However, a
goaltending change at the halftime mark
was all the Royals needed. Fresh in net
and hardly warmed up, the Royals took
advantage of the new keeper, putting a
second goal into the net—albeit off of the
foot of a Capilano defender. 2-0 Royals.

From there, the Royals suffocated the
Blues with their lead. The Blues would
grab a third goal when Jaime Petersen
beat an outstretched Alexa Gazzola,
however it was their first in the right net.
With 10 minutes remaining, the Royals
parked the bus and awaited the final
whistle which tied up their league win.

After seven weeks of play and 12
games, the Royals finished a respectable
7-3-2. Sam Kell would finish top
goal scorer with 8 goals, and Alexa
Gazzola would finish second best
in GAgo with 1.00 goals against 90
minutes. The team takes on the VIU
Mariners next week at the PACWEST
Championships as they battle to
determine who will head to Nationals.

 

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Photo by Falacci Johnston