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Nothing rime-d

Royals take out
VIU Mariners

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- November 22, the men’s
volleyball team played
its second to last game before
the break when they hosted
the visiting Vancouver Island
University (VIU) Mariners. With
the Mariners’ starting centre
injured for the match, the Royals
were looking to take advantage
of a possible weakness. And
they did, taking the game three
sets to one.
“We knew they were not
going to be as confident as
they would normally, but they
played pretty well considering
they had to change their centre.
They always play with lots of
heart and fire and you could
hear them the whole time. We
knew we were definitely still
going to have our hands full,”
commented coach Brad Hudson.
The game started with
VIU hopping out to a 1-0 lead,
but that would be the biggest,
and only, lead for them that
set. Douglas got on top 9-2
at one point, and while VIU

Eric

Wilkins

Sports Editor
1 sports@theotherpress.ca

drew within one later in the
set, the Royals always seemed
in control, ultimately taking
it 25-21 with Angus Ireland
supplying the final dig before
Andrew McWilliam put it
away. The Royals dropped the
second set 25-20 but were back
to business in the third, taking
it 25-16 on a George Thompson
spike to put the hosts back in the
driver's seat 2-1. Douglas had
been strong at the net all game,
but it was truly on display in the
final set as Drew Ruby, Caleb
Konrad, and Ahmad Mustafa
Hag all came up with huge
blocks to help the Royals finish
up 25-20.

“] think we passed well and
our offence really exploded.
We dug up a lot of balls and
our blocks were up there a lot
too. We were pretty consistent
throughout the whole match,”
said McWilliam.

With the squad now
finished with league games
for the semester, coach
Hudson spoke to the team’s
development. “We're not near
good enough in anything yet for
us to rest our hats on it. ] think
they’re doing a really good job
and they’re starting to figure out
who they are, but really there’s
a lot of aspects to our game that
we could still, at the very least,
tweak.”

Hudson also spoke to the
different paces of the year’s
games and the timing of the
break. “First semester is so
long for us. We don’t start until
after Thanksgiving, whereas
second semester you start first
week back. First semester feels
very much like a marathon and
second semester’s a little bit
more of a sprint. We're excited
to get back at it.”

McWilliam’s thoughts
heading into Christmas were
positive, too. “Obviously we
would have liked to have been
undefeated—that's ideal. But I
think we're learning a lot, as you
can see today.”

McWilliam finished with
his thoughts on what the team
needed to work on. “Just
coming out with energy. As long
as we maintain that and don’t
ride a roller coaster—just keep a
level of composure throughout
the whole time—I think we'll be
fine.”

The team will take to
California over the break for
some games before resuming in
January with a 6-6 record.

 

Player of the game:
#5 - Andrew McWillam

 

 

 

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Set for a break

Womens volleyball
loses to VIU

t

he women’s volleyball team

suffered a tough defeat
against the Vancouver Island
University (VIU) Mariners on
November 22, losing in straight
sets 3-0. With the Mariners
having only lost nine sets all
year, some could excuse the
rout, but no Royal was fine with
that attitude.

“Not at all,” said first year
Madison Burt, when asked if
the loss was an easy one to take.
“We had a couple players that
came out to compete, but I don’t
feel like the whole team showed
up today. We can definitely
compete with them though. We
had doubts going in because
we knew they didn’t lose a lot,
but tomorrow we're going to

Eric

Wilkins

Sports Editor
4 sports@theotherpress.ca

be ready to go,” said first year
Madison Burt.

Fourth year Avneet
Shokar agreed, “I think we
could've beat them. We were
just mentally not there today.
Tomorrow we get a second
chance at it so I hope we do
better. We shouldn't let that
[VIU’s impressive season] get to
us really, we should just worry
about what's happening on our
side of the court. I just want to
forget about it and move on to
tomorrow.”

The Royals were
competitive for most of the first
set, keeping the score relatively
close until the Mariners broke
away on a six point run at 19-15
to take it 25-15. In the second set
the hosts showed some life after
falling into a seven-point hole;
following a timeout, the Royals
clawed back to within one
point at 15-14 with Kelsi Taron
supplying an ace and Shokar
with a huge block, but that was
as close as they would get—
ultimately losing 25-17. The
Royals never had a chance in

the final as VIU sported leads of
7-1 and 20-10 at various points
before finishing the game 25-14.

“] think it’s always a great
opportunity to play the best,
or one of the best teams in
Canada, and it’s better than any
training that we’re going to get,”
commented coach Kyra Iannone.
“T think there were two of our
players that came into their own
tonight and just decided to put
their youth and inexperience
aside and really become go-to
people for the team. That’s huge.
Toni [Antonia Vandenbrink] is a
first-year player and she played
outstandingly tonight. She
played like she was in fourth- or
fifth-year.”

Iannone spoke to how
the break will be good for the
team. “There's a lot of young
girls on the team; I think seeing
their families and going home
and being around that support
system is going to be big for
people. A little bit of rest too.
They’re going to come back
rejuvenated and I think they’re
going to appreciate their team

more and be a tighter team in
January.”

She continued, “The new
girls are really stepping into
their roles and our team is
really close. I’m pretty proud of
where we're at and what they’re
doing.”

Burt and Shokar’s
comments reflected their coach’s
feelings about the break, both
citing the mental game as an
area of improvement.

“We just need to work on
our confidence. We're playing
against fifth years and fourth
years—girls that have been in
the league way longer than we
have,” said Burt.

Shokar added, “Mental. I
think that we have all the skill
that we need. We're all big,
strong girls. It’s not like we
don’t have the skill. We have a
lot of newer girls on the team
this year so a lot of it is mental
for us. Once we figure that out I
think we'll do amazing things.”

The group heads into the
break with a 4-8 record and will
resume in January.

   

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—
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Photo courtesy of Eric Wilkins

 

Player of the Game:
#6 - Toni Vandenbrink

 

 

 

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