The Columbia Bible College men's volleyball team punched its ticket to the national championships on Friday evening, sweeping past the College of the Rockies Avalanche in the PacWest semifinals.
The Bearcats, who came into the conference playoff tourney at Capilano University in North Vancouver as the top seed, beat the Avalanche (25-18, 25-20, 25-19) in decisive fashion.
They advance to the PacWest title game vs. the Douglas Royals at 8 p.m. on Saturday, and have secured a berth to the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) national championship, which runs March 5-8 in Moose Jaw, Sask.
The Bearcats won the CCAA national title in 2011, and finished fourth in 2012 as the host team.
On the women's side of the PacWest provincial tourney, both Abbotsford teams suffered disappointing losses.
On Thursday night, the fifth-seeded CBC women faced the No. 4 Camosun Chargers in the quarter-finals and won the first and third sets. But the Chargers rallied to win in five (8-25, 25-20, 17-25, 25-20, 15-9).
The University of the Fraser Valley Cascades, meanwhile, were the defending PacWest and CCAA national champions, and they had a bye to Friday's semifinals after finishing second in the league with a 20-4 record during the regular season.
But the host Capilano Blues staged an upset, winning in three straight sets (25-19, 25-23, 25-23) to deny the Cascades a return trip to nationals.
The UFV women play Camosun for the bronze medal on Saturday afternoon.