Skip to content

Mariners run aground against Avs

Men pull out a pair of wins while the women nearly knock off the cream of the Pacwest crop.
30257cranbrookdailyAvsMarinersmen
The Avs jump up for the block during a match against the Vancouver Island University at the College of the Rockies gym this weekend.

It was a big weekend for the Avalanche.

The men swept both games against the visiting Vancouver Island University Mariners, while the women lost a nail-biter in a tiebreak set and dropped a 3-1 decision in the rematch.

Despite the losses, the ladies were so close to putting away the cream of the Pacwest crop in both matches.

"It's kind of nice to see us, we showed up today [Saturday], we came together as a team, and we really stuck together the whole time, so that was awesome to see," said left/right side Madison Hudy, following Saturday's 4-1 loss to the Mariners. "It wasn't the same as yesterday, it wasn't as good I guess, but we still really came together and I feel like our performance was still strong."

Saturday's game was a close affair, despite the set scores at 19-25, 25-19, 18-25, 16-25.

The ladies took the lead in a few of those sets, but the Mariners were able to rally from behind and come back to take the win.

The night before, on Friday, the women battled VIU to five sets when the Mariners forced a tiebreak after being down by a set score of 2-1.

The Avalanche won the first and the third set (25-21, 25-16), while the Mariners took the second and fourth sets (25-15, 25-16). VIU barely edged out the match win by taking the tiebreak set at 15-13.

"It was such a good feeling for sure," said Hudy. "Being that they're ranked so high and just coming from the bottom as an underdog, to compete with a team like that, there's no feeling to describe it."

The men kept their playoff hopes going with a pair of wins over VIU, which keeps them above UFV in the standings, who are also challenging for a berth in provincials.

The men got it done on both nights at set scores of 3-1, giving up the third set in both games before clinching the match in the fourth set.

"We played really well, both nights, the first two sets just came to us, all the bounces were going our way, and the third set, we have a curse or something, I don't know what it is," said Tyler Remenda. "The third set always gives us a struggle and we got to figure that out as a team before provincials."

Saturday's game, the Avs won at set scores of 25-16, 25-18, 22-25, 25-23. On Friday evening, the Avs were victorious at 25-20, 25-23, 25-27, 25-22.

"Our defence needed to be spot on, especially against VUI, because they have such an unorthodox offence. Our team runs a very quick set, everything's fast and to the outside, while VIU takes it to the other extreme," said Remenda. "Their sets are all high and loopy and so our blocking has a tough time adjusting to that but I think we found a way and our defence really pulled it through," said Remenda.

 

 



Trevor Crawley

About the Author: Trevor Crawley

Trevor Crawley has been a reporter with the Cranbrook Townsman and Black Press in various roles since 2011.
Read more