Weekend split > Men’s basketball goes 1-1 Davie Wong Sports Editor he last couple of weeks have been generous to the Royals, gifting them opportunities to play against lower ranking teams and attempt to make up for their rough season opening. Brilliant play from the team and strong performances from key players has allowed them to capitalize on those chances and brought their record back up to even. On Friday, the Royals faced off against the eighth place Camosun Chargers, who were looking for redemption. The last time these two played, the Royals commanded the game and dominated the Chargers in their own court. Now the Chargers were looking to return the favour. That thought was quickly erased as the home team came out with speed. Camosun struggled to match the intensity of the Royals and turned the ball over several times in the first quarter. The resulting plays allowed the host Royals to climb to an early lead going into the second quarter. But the Chargers persisted yet. Their ability to drive the net was evident in the second as they caught the Royals’ defence sleeping on multiple occasions. It wasn’t long before the Royals found themselves watching the Chargers shoot foul shots every time Douglas misplayed. The home team could do little as their lead was whittled away, one basket at a time. However, the team was able to just hold on going into halftime with a score of 32-28. Coming out from the break, the Royals looked much better on the offensive side of the court. However, their problems on the defensive end still persisted, resulting with them once again being pushed by the Camosun offence. The difference this time was that the Royals could afford to give the Chargers those chances because they had converted on their own chances on the other end. The swift scoring Royals were eventually able to outshoot the Chargers, routing them in the fourth with 24 points, and closing out the game fora convincing win. With that game in the books, the men could focus on the main event of the weekend: their date with the number one ranked team in the country, the VIU Mariners. The Saturday afternoon game did not disappoint. The Royals once again, started the game with their foot on the gas pedal. While the VIU men Royals Preview > A look at this week’s upcoming games Davie Wong Sports Editor he month of February continues to fly by at an extraordinary pace. Teams are gearing up for that final push into playoff weekend and this week that will be especially evident. Here’s a look at this week’s games. Women’s Volleyball: This week’s Royals matchup of the week features the most heated competition in the women’s volleyball PACWEST conference. The ladies are coming home to end their regular season, and who better to end their season against than the Capilano Blues. The matchup will determine who has control of third place. This position is so important going into playoffs as the third seeded team will play the sixth seeded team, while the fourth seed plays the fifth. The Royals will need to sweep the weekend 2-0 if they hope to clinch that third seed. The last time these teams met was during the season opener, and the results could not have been tighter. The two split games on Capilano’s court going 5 sets in both games. But that was a long time ago, and since then, both teams have seen dramatic improvement Look for momentum to be the decider this weekend. The story of the season for the Royals has been their inability to shift momentum. When the team drops two sets, they have had a history of being unable to contest the deciding set. However, things look to be much better in that department lately, as the team showed signs of brilliance last week, coming back from being down 0-2 to UFV. This week’s games will be played on Thursday at 6 p.m, and Friday at 6 p.m at the New Westminster campus. Men’s Volleyball: It’s been nothing but playoff prep for these men as they have sweeping the bottom of the conference for the past couple of weeks. They find themselves in a similar position this week as they come home to end their regular CAL HOST HOTEL a ibdgon had the size advantage, the host Royals were able to run all over them in the first quarter, outscoring their opponents 30-11. But the Mariners would not go down so easily, and they came back swinging in the second, showing everyone just why they are rated the best team in Canada. They were quick to flip the roles and took their turn running all over the Royals’ defence, thrashing them for 23 points while only surrendering 12. Beaten and bloodied, Douglas was able to hold onto season against the sixth place Capilano Blues. It is likely that coach Brad Hudson will play his entire rotation but put much of the emphasis on resting his veterans for the coming weekend. The last time the two teams played, it was not at all in favour of the Blues, as the Royals dismantled them. Nothing should change this time around as the Royals have done nothing but improve this year. Women’s Basketball: Last week was a hard week for this Royals team. They split it 1-1, but came out looking shaky. Specifically, their defence was much worse than it has been all season. This week, they have matches against the Langara Falcons and the Quest Kermodes, on their respective home courts. It should be a time of readjustment for the Royals as they look to toughen up on the back end, While the matchups this week are exciting, the Royals have shown that they can be more than dominant against any team in the league. the lead going into halftime. In the third quarter, it was immediately obvious that nothing was going to change. The Mariners came out and danced all over the Royals’ defenders, nearly doubling their score in a single quarter. There was little the home team could do as the country’s best team went out of their way to ensure their victory, scoring another 21 points in the fourth, ending the game with a total of 86 points. Despite a magnificent individual effort from Grant Campbell, who scored 28 of Men’s Basketball: The men have tough matchups as they face two of the league’s better teams. Coming off of a devastating loss to the VIU Mariners, the men are faced with adversity as they seek to prove themselves. They have more than shown their ability to beat bad teams, but their ability to win against good teams will be on Ves) Jy ly, rT ee —saecuntnet ig Photo by Davie Wong the Royals’ 66 points, the home team became another victim of the VIU Mariners, who remain undefeated. After the team’s difficult defeat, coach Denis Beausoleil talked about what were the biggest factors to his team’s loss: “Rebounding has been the theme all year. We were also unable to press. When we can press, our synergy is a lot better and our offensive flow is a lot better. In the first quarter, our press was good. After that, it was hard to get consistent pressing for the remainder of the game.” IL =" Photo by Davie Wong display now. Facing off against the Langara Falcons and the Quest Kermodes, two teams that have previously beat them, the Royals will need to be on-point. Their rebounding, which was a huge factor in their loss against VIU, will need to be the best it’s been all season.