Royals Crown Cascades

Story courtesy of Dan Kinvig

The University of the Fraser Valley men’s volleyball team saw its season come to an end at the hands of the Douglas Royals on Thursday evening, falling in four sets in the PACWEST quarter-finals.

Playing before a raucous home crowd at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre, the No. 4-seeded Cascades were firing on all cylinders in the first set, blitzing the No. 5 Royals 25-16. But Douglas was the better team from that juncture, controlling the next three sets and winning by scores of 25-21, 25-22 and 25-22.

The Royals advance to Friday’s semifinals, where they’ll face the top-seeded Vancouver Island University Mariners at 8 p.m. at the EFAC.

Douglas setter Jared Collin ran a highly efficient attack over the last three sets, racking up 43 assists and earning his team’s player of the match nod. He set the table for three of his teammates to post double-digit kills: Justin Faester (11), Reid Marriott (10) and Jerry Yan (10). Middle Eric Sundmark led a Royals blocking effort that yielded a combined eight blocks.

Ben Friesen was the Cascades’ player of the match, racking up a game-high 13 kills. Also chipping in offensively for the hosts were Matt Whittall (eight kills, three aces), Dayton Pagliericci (eight kills), Nick Bruce (seven kills) and Josh Fefchak (six kills). Setter Adam Frederickson registered a team-best 11 digs, and libero Evan Bell-Foley had nine.

Friday’s semifinal schedule at the PACWEST men’s and women’s volleyball championships is as follows:

1 p.m. | WVB | No. 2 VIU Mariners vs. No. 3 UFV Cascades

3 p.m. | MVB | No. 2 Capilano Blues vs. No. 3 Camosun Chargers

6 p.m. | WVB | No. 1 Douglas Royals vs. No. 4 Capilano Blues

8 p.m. | MVB | No. 1 VIU Mariners vs. No. 5 Douglas Royals