Abbotsford teams had early exits at the Pacwest volleyball championships in Cranbrook this weekend.
Both the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades women and the Columbia Bible College Bearcats men’s teams were one and done at the event, which took place at the College of the Rockies in Cranbrook.
UFV entered the tournament ranked fourth in the conference, and were up 2-0 on the fifth-ranked Capilano University Blues during the tournament’s opening day on Thursday, but the Blues stormed back to win three straight and end the Cascades season.
The Cascades won 25-16 and 25-20 in the first two sets, but then lost 25-21, 25-21 and 18-16.
The @CapilanoBlues come all the way back and beat the @UFVCascades 18-16 and the match 3-2. They are off to the semis tomorrow at the #PACWESTBC championship
— PACWEST BC (@pacwestbc) February 21, 2019
“We just didn’t execute when we had game point on the line,” Cascades head coach Mike Gilray said afterward. “It’s a tough loss, and it’s going to sting for a while.”
The fifth and final set saw UFV have several opportunities to finish off the Blues, but they failed to do so.
“I thought we were playing well in the first two, but Cap wasn’t playing their best,” Gilray said. “No real changes to our game plan – when we were sticking to that, we did well. We just made a few mental mistakes. But even with those, we gave ourselves a chance to win against a good team. We just didn’t execute when we needed to.”
The Blues went on to win bronze at the event, which wrapped up on Saturday. The Vancouver Island University Mariners defeated the Douglas College Royals to take home gold.
The Bearcats men’s team also had a short showing in Cranbrook, losing in three straight (25-22, 25-11 and 25-17) to Capilano. CBC entered the event as the low seed, and challenged the third-ranked Blues in the opening set, but fell apart in sets two and three.
MVB 🏐 @CapilanoBlues take the third and last set 25-17 against your @cbcBearcats sweeping 3-0. Thanks for a great season we will see you in the fall!
— Bearcat Athletics (@cbcBearcats) February 21, 2019
The VIU Mariners defeated the Camosun College Chargers in the men’s final, while Capilano earned bronze.