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Bearcats off to volleyball nationals

The Columbia Bible College men's volleyball team vanquished a longtime antagonist on Friday to punch its ticket to the national championships.
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The Columbia Bible College men's volleyball team vanquished a longtime antagonist on Friday to punch its ticket to the national championships.The Bearcats had lost all three prior meetings with the Douglas College Royals this season, but they made relatively short work of them in the B.C. Colleges Athletic Association (BCCAA) semifinals in Kelowna, winning in straight sets (25-21, 25-18, 26-24). In Saturday's gold medal game, CBC fell in four sets to the host UBC-O Heat, the top-ranked team in the nation. Nevertheless, the Bearcats will attend the national championships, which run March 10-12 in Sherbrooke, Que., as a wild card entry."We played really steady ball (against Douglas)," CBC head coach Rocky Olfert said. "We didn't have many unforced errors, and we maybe caught them on a day where they weren't playing their best. I'm really happy for the guys."Matt Kaminski, Will Quiring and Jason Warkentin of the Bearcats were named provincial tournament all-stars. The Bearcats will be seeded sixth out of eight teams at nationals, and open against the host Sherbrooke squad in the quarter-finals."It's huge for us," Olfert said of the national berth. "This was the goal we set at the beginning of the year, and with us hosting nationals next year, it'll be a great experience for our guys."IN BRIEF: • The University of the Fraser Valley women's volleyballers battled their way to the provincial bronze medal game, where they fell in four sets to the Capilano Blues (26-28, 25-19, 25-23, 26-24). • CBC hosts the BCCAA basketball provincials this week, Thursday through Saturday at Columbia Place. For a complete schedule, visit bccaa.ca/2011basketball.