Savoury silver > Women’s volleyball shows up big Davie Wong Sports Editor t’s been a season to remember for the Douglas College women’s volleyball team. Their strong regular season showing was their best in a long time, and the expectation was that it would carry on into the playoffs. Behind PACWEST Coach of the Year Jeff Ross, the team prepped for the inevitable battle ahead of them. With a quarter-final bye, the women watched as the Capilano Blues tussled with the Camosun Chargers, going the full five sets. The exciting match was fun for all to watch, but also gave the Royals a bit of a scouting report. They closely watched both teams, knowing that the longer the game went, the more tired the team would be when it came to their time to face the Royals. At the end of the night, it was the Blues that came out on top in five sets. The Royals were delighted, because less than 24 hours later, the Blues were squaring off against the Royals. And the Douglas squad let them know that being tired was the easiest way to lose against the Royals’ potent attack. A 25-18 first set win sent the message pretty clearly. But the Blues had a message of their own. They sent the letter via express in the form of their own 25-18 set win and tied the game. Now that both teams knew they were in a serious match, it was time to kick it on. Unfortunately for the Blues, the Royals caught them off guard to start the third. With a 12-5 lead, it looked pretty grim for the Blues. But amazingly enough, they battled back, tying the game before anyone could even gasp. The Blues would cap off the comeback with the topper ina 25-23 set. Now needing the fourth set to force a fifth, the Royals went to their vets for the job. Luckily for them, Juliana Penner and Vicki Schley know a thing or two about painting floors. They decorated the Blues court with ball outlines from their barrage of attacks. In the end, it was middle blocker Georgia Hurry that capped off an Seeking retribution > Women’s basketball returns for more Davie Wong Sports Editor veryone remembers last year’s PACWEST provincial tournament. For many of the players, it echoes in their minds like a distant train. Upset not once, but twice in the same weekend. They went from tournament title contenders to fourth place finishers. It stung for everyone. This year, they have a chance to make it right. The team continued to dominate the regular season, albeit with a very different looking team. Gone was Nanaya Miki, who had been such a scoring staple for the Royals. But now there are Ellen Fallis and Sarah Jorgenson. Even more so, this year has to be the year of the Beauchamp. In his first year back in the PACWEST, Steve Beauchamp has found a way to reinvent the dominant Royals team from last year, and make them better. And at the centre of this new team is Rachel Beauchamp. A monster in every sense, Rachel has dominated the league this year. She’s a guaranteed All-Star, and should be in the conversations for Player of the Year. She averages a double- double, and she’s the only player in the league to do so, in fact. Needless to say, the Royals are a powerhouse this year. With the number two seed, they claim a first-round bye and await the winner of the Langara and VIU match. As talented as Langara is, VIU have Sienna Pollard, who is in every aspect an All-Star. Langara probably won't be able to stop her, but the Royals can and have before. Against VIU, the Royals have a record of 2-1, besting them by nearly 20 points in their last meeting. They also kept Pollard to just 1 points and g rebounds. After that, there really isn’t much to VIU. Without their star, they sort of fall apart. Harsh, but true. I can see the Royals bumping the Mariners and moving to the finals. Speaking of which, I’m not even going to debate who will be waiting. It’s going to be the Capilano Blues. No offence to the Quest Kermodes and the Camosun Chargers, but the Blues are the better team. Although the last time the Blues lost was to the Chargers, and excellent set for the Royals with a massive block on a huge swing. The Royals force the fifth with a 25-21 set win. Everything was on the line in the fifth set, and both teams knew it. The two teams traded points until the very end, and even that went longer than normal. Once again, Georgia Hurry showed that she had a clutch setting wired into her brain. She made a massive singular effort block that landed flat on the Blues court to end their run at gold, and allowed the Royals to continue theirs. For the first time in 15 years, the Royals women’s volleyball team would be playing in the gold medal match. Stories don’t get much easier to write than that. And it wouldn't be a story without an evil overlord. For the Royals, that was the VIU Mariners, who had the home court advantage as well. Ranked number one in the PACWEST, and ranked number one overall in the entire CCAA, the VIU Mariners were definitely a daunting foe. With three out of four matches ending in losses against the Mariners, the Royals it was handily, I still stand by my belief that the Blues will be there, waiting for the Royals. Now this is going to be a heck of a game. Every time the Royals and the Blues have danced, it’s been a quality game. With both teams being defence- first, their matches haven't always been the highest scoring games, but they have always been battles. The Royals have a record of 1-2 against the Blues, but they were the team to hand the Blues their first defeat. Since then, only the Chargers have beaten the Blues, which means that the Capilano squad is on the downwards trend. However, the Royals know they have to be cautious. The combination of Ashley De La Cruz Yip and Carmelle M’Bikata has been the sword that has struck down every team in the PACWEST this year. To leave them Photograph by Davie Wong Photograph by Davie Wong knew that the competition would be at a whole new level the next day. Unfortunately, not all stories have happy endings. Some are quite tragic. When it came to the story of the Douglas College Royals against the VIU Mariners, it was pretty clear who the better team was. It wasn’t the story of the other team got lucky, it was just the fact that the VIU Mariners were clearly better. In nearly every way. If you needed proof, it came in the Mariners systematic 3-0 victory against the Royals. While the Royals came closer in the sets than the Mariners’ previous opponent, the College of the Rockies Avalanche, they were still a bit off from taking sets from the Mariners, going 21-25, 20-25, and 17-25. As bittersweet as the silver is, the women can take pride in knowing that they've done something that hasn’t been done since the 2000-01 campaign. They can also sleep easy knowing that while they may have lost gold this year, they have a very legitimate shot at it next year. unguarded is to give the Blues an empty court. But when the Yip-M’Bikata connection has failed the Blues, Yip has gone to every other Blues player on the court and made them a scorer. With three scorers in the top 10 average points per game, and each of them averaging more than 10 points, it’s going to be a challenge finding out how to guard against them all. But that just might be the Blues’ undoing. If the Blues pour too much into their offence, you can bet the Royals will tear them apart. It’s been proven that you need at least two people to guard Rachel Beauchamp efficiently, and even then she'll net 14 points. But to guard the rest of the team is going to be difficult for the Blues. No doubt, Steve Beauchamp will be relying heavily on his two-way players. Amber Beasley is a player who comes to mind. Her ability to guard has been unprecedented this season, and her shooting has just gotten hot. If the Blues aren't careful, she’ll drop a three and be back in time to steal the ball from her check on the transition. I’m going to make a bold prediction here. Royals will win gold this year. They beat the Capilano Blues by 10 or fewer points. That’s the feeling I get when I look at these two teams. Let’s see if ’m wrong!