The VIU Mariners got a look at the first-placed team in the league, and now they can go back to concentrating on their own game.
Vancouver Island University’s women’s volleyball team (8-2) split a pair of matches against the Fraser Valley Cascades (9-1) on Friday and Saturday at the VIU gym. The M’s won Friday’s match in straight sets, 25-18, 25-21, 25-18. They did a lot right, with blocking and defence sparking the win.
“Then Saturday rolled around, and not so sharp,” said Shane Hyde, M’s coach.
The Cascades took the rematch 18-25, 25-23, 25-14, 25-17.
Hyde said the results are understandable with that sort of schedule.
“It’s pretty difficult when you play such a good opponent on a Friday night and a Saturday, to mentally get up for the game and then … be ready to do the same thing again,” he said.
There were a lot of holes in VIU’s game Saturday, he said, and the fact that the score wasn’t that close has his team demoralized.
“We’ve got to go through a bit of damage control and then realize we also won three straight the day before and played extremely well the day before,” he said.
The M’s men (7-3), meanwhile, swept their matches with UFV, winning 25-20, 25-16, 25-19, then 25-21, 25-21, 21-25, 25-19.
GAME ON … VIU plays the College of the Rockies tonight (Nov. 22) and tomorrow at the VIU gym. The women’s matches are at 6 p.m. both nights, with the men to follow at 8 p.m … The Mariners are coping with CUPE job action at the university this week. To read about the strike’s impact on VIU sports, please click here.
sports@nanaimobulletin.com
