Putting the regular season to bed just means it's time to ramp it up.
The Douglas College Royals closed out the regular season, splitting a home-and-home series with rival Capilano Blues last week, laying the groundwork for a memorable semifinal on Friday at the PacWest provincial women's volleyball championships in Nanaimo.
The two teams square off, with the winner advancing to face either No. 1-ranked Vancouver Island or one of College of the Rockies and Fraser Valley, who played a late quarterfinal on Thursday (after the Record's deadline).
In their showdown last week, Douglas took the first game 3-2 (25-17, 23-25, 25-23, 17-25, 15-5) but couldn't replicate that result the next day in North Vancouver, falling 3-1 (25-14, 21-25, 25-20, 25-14). The game did not factor in the standings however; while the two teams had identical 17-7 records, the Royals earned second place due to a tie-breaker.
Finishing top-three in stats were Juliana Penner, who was the top offensive player, and finished third in kills with 3.30 per set, Georgia Hurry, second in blocks with 1.02 per set, and Claudia Corneil, third overall in digs with an average of 3.63 per set.
Prior to the start of the provincials, the PacWest unveiled its all-stars and award winners, and Penner was selected as a first-team all-star. Drawing all-rookie team honours were Jane Kepler and Vania Oliveira, while Douglas' head coach Jeff Ross was named Coach of the Year. Burnaby's Sarah Hughes, with Capilano, was also a first-team selection.
* The Douglas College Royals men's volleyball team is ready to embrace its underdog role.
The Royals qualified for this weekend's provincials in fifth spot with an 11-13 record, one-win better than sixth-place Capilano.
In a spirited home-and-home series to wrap up the regular season, Douglas traded sets with the Blues, winning the opener 3-0, before dropping the season finale 3-1.
Launching the provincials in Nanaimo, Douglas drew No. 4 College of the Rockies in the quarterfinal, in a game played Thursday after the Record's deadline.
Chosen to the first all-star team was Devon Dunn, while Burnaby's Jerry Yan was named to the all-rookie team. Yan's former Moscrop teammate, Justin Yee, was also an all-rookie selection, for Capilano.
