By Nathan Hutton (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: November 19, 2014
While all four indoor Cascade teams were in competition this weekend, it was the volleyball teams that impressed against the Douglas College Royals.
The Douglas College men’s team came into the weekend as the number-two ranked volleyball team in the country, and the highest-ranked team from BC. This week was also special for the Cascades, who climbed into the national rankings for the first time in over a year.
The Cascades came into the weekend shorthanded, missing a number of their players including Ryan Thain, Kurtis Stromdahl, and Nick Bruce, who were all unavailable due to injury. The loss of these three players, who regularly contribute to the offence, was a big hit to the Cascades, who were going into their biggest game of the year. It was a stat that made the final result most surprising.
The Cascades were pounded in the first set (25-12) and it looked as if they were about to get steamrolled by the Royals. It was at this point where the tides seemed to turn. The Royals won the next two sets 25-18 and 25-23. After dropping the fourth set, it seemed that the fifth and final set would be full of drama. The fifth set, which only goes to 15 instead of 25, saw the Cascades take a quick 9-4 lead and control the rest of the set to win 15-10, and come away with their biggest win of the season.
Head coach Kyle Donen told Cascades Media, “It’s a character win, especially with what we put on the floor today. We had quite a few injuries, so we didn’t even know what our lineup was going to be going into the game.”
Although the action the next day provided the Cascades with loss in three straight sets, the Cascades men’s volleyball team will take a lot of positives from this weekend after defeating one of the top teams in the country without three of their stars.
However, the women’s volleyball team struggled in their Friday contest and weren’t able to gain any traction. Ultimately, they fell to the unranked Royals in four sets. The Saturday contest was a lot different, and saw the Cascades that we all know dominate against less-than-stellar competition.
They dominated the Royals in three straight sets and proved that the night before was a mistake and nothing else. First year Mandelyn Erikson told Cascades Media after the game, “It definitely means a lot to us. We came together as a team — we all strived towards a common goal, and it ended up working out in our favour. We had fun. That was the biggest thing for us, I think.”
Both teams have next weekend off and are then at home for their last action before the holidays against the Camosun Chargers.
