Douglas Volleyball

Darren Paterson, Sports Editor

 

Women Roll Into Playoffs

The Douglas College women’s volleyball

team rolls into the playoffs this weekend
after three straight 3-0 wins secured them
a playoff spot last week. And while two of
those wins came against league bottom-
feeders CNC and Camosun, the Royals
built strong playoff hopes with a domi-
nant performance against Malaspina, a
team that stood eight points ahead of DC
in the standings at the time.

The match started tentatively, but
before long Douglas had found their
game and they powered their way to a
25-22 win in the first set. That triumph
energized the team and any doubts the
players had were erased as they began to
seize the momentum. The next set was an
even faster 25-21 win, before the Royals
steamrolled the Mariners in the final set
by a score of 25-16.

Even Co-Coach Becki Kosinski was

20 | www.theotherpress.ca

 

impressed with the effort, and while she
had every confidence that her team could
win, she “certainly didn’t expect to win
three straight.”

The win spurred Douglas on through
last Thursday’s make-up game against
CNC as the Kodiaks provided little chal-
lenge for the fiery-hot Royals. And, while
the team did hit a roadblock in their sec-
ond-to-last against first-place
Okanagan, the Royals ate in good playoff

game

form. As I write this, the standings are not
yet confirmed, but it looks very likely that
Douglas will again play Malaspina, a
match-up that now looks favourable for
the Royals.

The playoff format for the first round
is third vs. sixth and fourth vs. fifth. And
if you get a chance before this weekend,
go ahead and e-mail your support for the
team as they go into the playoffs.

For a full look at the playoff standings,
the BCCAA’s
http://becaa.cotr.be.ca/

visit website at

Men Go Down Fighting

The DC men’s volleyball team was not so
lucky, however, as they were trounced by
the Okanagan Lakers due to a costly tech-
nicality. The Royals were in a three-way tie
with the Lakers and the College of the
Rockies (COTR) for the final two playoff
spots last weekend but they needed the
win against Okanagan to control their
own fate. And although they did manage
to defeat COTR a day later, a win that left
the teams with identical 9-11 records,
COTR got the spot because they are host-
ing this year’s playoffs—despite losing
both their games to Douglas this year.
Royals coach Mike Sapic, though dis-
appointed about the loss to Okanagan,
was pleased with the way his team worked
hard for a five-set win against COTR. He
also mentioned the strong effort of third-

 

 

Rugby Report

Dave Pearcey, OP Contributor

he second division women
took on a tough Trinity

ek. In her first

     
     

and Nikki Jackman gave the Royals a
20-5 halftime lead. Chantal
Amundson, Rikki Jones, and

 

Western University team and

- Jackman's 2nd try along with a con-_

ith aad Pocomo i in second division.

  

 

ert by Meghan Griffiths closed ot :

 

  
    

In the first division, Douglas suf-
fered a disappointing 12-0 loss to
Pocomo.

 

 

 

 

 

year power, Jeff Payne, in what was prob-
ably his last game for DC. Payne stepped
up as a leader for this year’s team, but he
graduated this year and will likely be leav-
ing the Royals. According to Sapic, Payne
played an inspired last game as the Royals
fought for the slimmest hopes of a play-
off berth.

Sapic was also happy with the season
as a whole. Despite many hardships, the
team improved its record from 2-16 last

year to 9-11 this year. But this semester
was one of much change for the Royals,
and by the last game of the season nearly

the entire starting roster consisted of
back-up players.

The semester change saw the loss of
several players and had changed the team
enough, but when Setter Ryan Brant

injured his leg in practice a couple of
weeks ago, the team became too debilitat-
ed to recover.

Brant’s replacement, Dave Delorme,
did an admirable job filling in, but his lack
of experience led to some awkward sets
that the rest of the team were unable to
convert. And things only got worse when
Jay Kube’s knee gave up on him, leaving
him able to play only one of the last three
games (the loss to Okanagan).

 

However, the team of back-ups
showed strong signs of growth and they
have nothing left to do but look forward
to the future—when they can build on
what has been an otherwise disappointing

season.

FEBRUARY 23/2005