Douglas College is hoping home court will be the springboard to a berth at the national collegiate men's volleyball championships.
The Douglas Royals ended the regular season with a weekend sweep over Capilano University to finish just one game back of Vancouver Island University in the overall standings.
The Royals will now play host to the PacWest provincial volleyball championships at the New Westminster campus gym Feb. 23 to 25.
Moscrop grad Jordan Or picked up a total 30 digs in the back-to-back 3-0 wins, while fifth-year middle blocker Jeff Taylor had 31 total kills, including 19 in the final match Saturday.
Another final-year Royal, Kaleb Dawe, also contributed to the team's total offence.
Dawe had five digs, two kills and three service aces in the win Saturday. He also had six digs, four kills and another three aces in the Friday opener.
Sam Shaw led the way in the opening game, with a game-high 14 kills. The fourth-year outside hitter also had four digs, two blocked shots and an ace.
On the following day, Shaw netted 11 more points of total offence, including eight kills.
Andrew Robson and Mark Vanderwal were also all over the court, contributing five and six kills apiece.
Douglas finished the season with an overall record of 19-5, including 61 set wins.
"We've been working pretty hard on blocking and offensive patterns and trying to be a better volleyball team," said Douglas head coach Brad Hudson.
As the regular season runner-up, Douglas will face the highest seeded team coming out of Thursday's quarter-finals in the semifinals at 8 p.m. on Friday.
That team could well be defending national champion Columbia Bible College, which has five of last year's seven starters back on the squad.
Hudson believes home court advantage is a good thing but also realizes the provincial format does not allow for second chances.
"I feel some pressure for Kaleb (Dawe) and Jeff (Taylor). I want these kids to go out the way they deserve. They have worked pretty hard to build this program, and I want these kids to get what they deserve," said Hudson.
The Douglas women's team also qualified for the provincials with the sixth overall seeding.
The Royal women will play Capilano University in the quarter-finals on Thursday at 1 p.m.
The women's finals will be held at the New West campus on Saturday, beginning at 6 p.m.
The men's final will follow at 8 p.m.
