Friday Night of Fifths
The Avalanche and Bearcats both win in a decisive fifth set on Friday night
Both matches went the distance on Friday night as men’s volleyball opened Week 10 of the schedule.
COTR Avalanche 3
Douglas Royals 2
The top ranked Avalanche were without superstar Diego Policarpo for the second straight weekend as he stayed behind in Cranbrook while his teammates came back to earn their 12th win of the season.
They opened the match with a 25-21 victory to take the lead on the road. However, that advantage didn’t last long as the Royals came right back to tie the match with a 25-20 victory.
With the crowd behind them, the Royals kept momentum and took the match lead with a third set victory of 25-23 and were in the driver’s seat.
In the fourth set, with their backs against the wall, the Avalanche came back and showed why they are ranked as the top team in the CCAA. With points going back and forth, the Avs found an extra gear to take the set 25-22 to force a fifth, winner take all set.
In that fifth, it was again extremely tight before the visitors took the lead for good and claimed a 15-12 win, taking the match for their sixth win in a row, while handing the Royals their third consecutive loss.
Saturday night the schools meet again in what should be an exciting rematch in their final head-to-head of the regular season at 7:00pm.
CBC Bearcats 3
Capilano Blues 2
The hometown Bearcats gave their fans plenty to cheer about on Friday night with a thrilling five-set win over the visiting Blues.
They would fall behind out of the gate in the first set losing 25-23, before rebounding with a 25-17 victory to even the match. They kept that spark into the third set and took the match lead with a solid 25-19 win to go up 2-1.
The Blues didn’t go quietly and came back in the fourth set to win 25-22 to force a decisive fifth set in Abbotsford. Despite the pressure, the Bearcats didn’t buckle and found an extra gear to record a 15-11 victory for their third win of the year.
These two schools meet again on Saturday night at 7:00pm in the rematch and their final meeting of the year.