Defending champ Mariners survive early scare
They passed the test, not exactly with the flying colours that coach Shane Hyde usually demands, but it was an approvable grade for starters.
The No. 1-ranked Vancouver Island University Mariners had to dig deep, at times, in defeating the No. 8 Cavaliers de Bois-deBoulogne of Montreal 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-19) on Thursday afternoon at the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association women’s volleyball championship at PISE gymnasium on Camosun’s Interurban campus.
The Mariners now face the Lakeland College Rustlers of Vermilion, Alta., in tonight’s first semifinal at 6 p.m. as Lakeland downed the Mount Saint Vincent University Mystics 3-2 (25-14, 24-26, 22-25, 25-15, 17-15) in their lengthy quarter-final immediately following the VIU victory.
“We wanted to get our nerves out and it felt really good to be out there, but we definitely have a lot more in us. It was a good test to get all the nerves and jitters out,” said VIU fifth-year star Megan Rosenlund, who was named the CCAA player of the year.
Hyde didn’t disagree and was glad just to get out of the first match.
“It was a good game for us to get our nerves out, but we didn’t play well,” he said. “It was some scrappy, ugly ball and I’m sure if you asked [Cavaliers coach] Sylvain Noel, he would tell you the same thing.
“I don’t think either team played to the level that we needed to for a national championship. It wasn’t the crispiest of games and now we move on. We’ve got that under our belt and we’re two matches away from the national championship.”
Should they get to Saturday’s final the Mariners would be looking for their second straight Canadian title.
They did struggle in this one. Tied 16-16 in the second game, Hyde called a time-out before his team grabbed a 22-17 advantage.
“There was a lot of pumping of tires. The game of volleyball is all momentum and in the game of women’s volleyball it’s even more so,” he said. “We kept talking about the process and trust in what our game plan was and to pay attention to the details of our skills. We were kind of running all over the place, so we just settled them down.”
Meanwhile, the host and No. 7 Camosun Chargers upset the No. 2 Humber College Hawks in the late match with a gritty 3-2 victory (19-25, 25-6, 25-17, 20-25, 15-13).
The Chargers will face the Grande Prairie College Wolves — who defeated the CEGEP Edouard-Montpetit Lynx 3-1 (27-25, 25-19, 24-26, 25-13) — in tonight’s semifinal at 8.
At the men’s nationals in London, Ont., the Camosun Chargers roared back for a 3-2 marathon win over the Medicine Hat Rattlers (18-25, 6-25, 26-24, 25-20, 15-13), while the VIU Mariners upset the Mohawk Mountaineers 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-23).