the other press ws ‘te. Sports November 13, 2002 Volleyball Royals Sweep Chargers Jordan Cripps Sports Editor Douglas 3 (25-22, 25-22, 25-15) Camosun 0 Sandra-Joy Unaegbu On Friday, the Douglas College Women’s Volleyball team took on Camosun College in the second week of BCCAA league play. The game was an important one for the Royals who are currently battling with Langara for the 4th and final playoff position, although the season is still young and the standings will surely change over the next eight weeks. The first game of the match was a real test for the Royals who fell behind early to the Chargers. The Royals began the game strongly, win- ning the first point off of a block. The Chargers stormed back, though, recording the next three points of the game. Determined to end the Charger momentum quickly, Sandra-Joy Unaegbu let loose with a spike to knot the game at four. Camosun again responded, scoring the next five points of the game to take a 9-4 lead. Douglas coach Rachel Manley-Casimir, sensing that Camosun was beginning to pull away, called a time-out to get everyone on the same page. This seemed to work as Douglas went on a bit of a scoring run of their own, recording the next three points to cut the gap to three. The rest of this first game was a seesaw affair that saw neither team earn a run of points. With the score even at 20, Douglas took the lead for the first time since the first point of the match. Yet, the scoring continued to go back and forth, as each team responded to the other's scoring plays with points of their own. Finally, though, Douglas managed to pull away, scoring four of the last five points to take the first game 25-22. The early part of the second game suggested that the rest of the match would be as close as the first game as neither team could get on much of a roll. The biggest lead in the early stages of the game was Camosun hay- ing a 6-4 advantage over the Royals. Soon after that, however, the Royals began to find their form again, earning four of the next six points to take even the score at seven. From there, the Royals attempted to pull away but could never put too much distance between themselves and the Chargers, only managing to take a 13—10 lead in the middle of the econd game. For the next few points, the Royals attempted to put the hargers away, breaking out on a five point run to extend the lead to an 18-13 margin. Again Camosun climbed back, closing the gap to a 19-17 Royals lead before the Royals pulled away yet again, thanks in art to a big block made by Unaegbu and Anna Stec to give the Royals 22-18 lead. After the block, the Royals went on to take the second me 25-22. The 3rd game of the match was, without question, the easiest of the ree for the team. The Royals broke out early in the game, taking the irst four points of the game before Camosun knew what hit them. After e Royals quick start, the Chargers did manage to close the gap a bit, ut were held back from taking the lead. The Royals led the game from tart to finish, with the closest calls happening in the middle part of the e, where the Royals only held a one-point lead, 13-12. After this lose call, though, the Royals were never challenged by the Chargers ho were held to just three more points before the Royals completed the sweep. The victory extended the Royals record to 3-2, good for six points d sole possession of 4th place in the BCCAA standings, depending on ngara’s weekend results. Volleyball Royals Swept by Chargers Jordan Cripps Sports Editor The Royals Men’s Volleyball team hit the floor against the Camosun Chargers on Friday. Even though the season is only just getting underway, the Royals needed a victory to re-enter the BCCAA playoff picture. Prior to the match, the Royals were tied for 4th place in points but because they have played more matches than Capilano and won fewer games than UCC, actually sat in 6th place going into the match. The first game didn’t go as the Royals hoped it would as the Chargers broke out early, taking a big lead of 10-4. This lead was too big to overcome for the Royals, who fell quickly in the first game, 25—11. After Camosun’s quick start, the Royals never got much closer than eight points in the game. There were a couple of pos- itives for the Royals during the game, though. Ryan Steele demonstrated some finesse as he made a nice tip to score the Royals 8th point of the game, cutting the Chargers lead to nine. Another positive for the Royals came as Mike Sunnus demonstrated his power, unleashing a huge kill, scoring the Royals 11th and final point of the game. Rob Mackenzie Camosun 3 (25-11, 25-20, 25-21) Douglas 0 The second game began much better for the Royals. The Royals were very much in the game until the very end when Camosun pulled away, eventually taking the game, 25-20. A number of lead changes occurred as both teams jockeyed for the lead. This time, the Royals were the team that got out of the gate quickly as they built up a 9-5 lead in the early going. Ryan Steele, who recorded a big spike and a service winner in the run, orchestrated much of the Royals attack. Darryl Wind also contributed with a spike of his own. Unfortunately for the Royals, the Chargers took this opportunity to show why they are cur- rently sitting in 1st place in the BCCAA stand- ings, rallying to even the score at 11. Douglas managed to regain its composure and had some success of its own after a kill by Matthew Klassen, taking a 17—13 lead. Again, the experi- ence of the Chargers emerged as they refused to be rattled by the deficit, allowing them to climb back into the game, knotting the score at 18. With the score tied, the Chargers decided that the Royals had hung around long enough, allowing just two more points as they scored seven of their own to take the second game. As the players prepared for the 3rd game of the match, it seemed likely that the Royals could build on some of the confidence they had gained during the previous game. It wasn’t to be for the Royals, however, as they didn’t really get on track during the game until the final stages. To begin the game, Camosun showed signs that they might try to run away with the game, con- trolling the scoreboard. The Royals wouldn't let the Chargers pull away too much, though, and remained within striking distance with the score 9-7 in favor of Camosun. From this point, though, the Chargers gave the impression that they wanted to head back to the Island, taking a commanding 14-8 lead before a Ryan Steele block cut into the Camosun lead. With the score 18-12 in favor of Camosun, a rarity in volleyball occurred as Chris Rich was struck by the ball, forcing the referee to call what is known as a “blood timeout”. Rich would recover and stay in the game, though, serving as a rallying point for the Royals who scored 8 of the next 13 points to close the score to a 23-20 margin for the Chargers. Sensing a shift in momentum, the Chargers responded to finish off the game, taking three of the last four points of the game. The loss was a big one for the Royals who see their record fall to 1-4, good enough for just two points and 6th place in the standings. Depending on how other teams fare this week- end, the loss could see the Royals sitting some- where between 6th and 8th place in the tough BCCAA standings. Photos by Devon Lewis page 21 ©