Brent Mutis, CapU Sport Info & Compliance Officer

In Saturday's rematch after dropping a five-set heartbreaker to open the season, the Capilano Blues didn't get the measure of revenge they were looking for in a three-sets-to-one loss to the visiting Douglas College Royals

The teams swapped point for point throughout the first set with Capilano ending up with 25-20 win. Douglas rebounded after that however and the visitors took the final three sets. 

Despite the setbacks, first year head coach Darrin Moreira (interview audio below) was encouraged by the weekend overall with his young lineup - including first-years Owen Genge, Chris Towner, Tate Wheatley and Jakob Leinemann along with redshirt first-year Colby Soolsma - showing flashes of talent that indicate a bright future for the team.

In the PACWEST season opener Friday, the Royals and Blues went the distance in a five-set thriller that went the way of the visitors by a 3-2 score.

The opener was a back-and-forth affair with Douglas taking the opening set but CapU rallied in extra points in the second set, 26-24 to even the match 1-1. The Royals looked in command in the third set winning it 25-13 but again the Blues fought back with a 25-23 fourth-set win and forced a fifth set.

In the final frame, some tight nerves led to a number of service errors on both sides but the Blues made a couple more and Douglas ended the night with an ace.

Soolsma led the way for the Blues with 12 kills and featured a fiersome serve that gave the Royals trouble the whole night. Setter Jenson Yuen had a lot of options Friday night and set up James Fong for 11 kills while Steve Searcy and Jesse Lee had nine apiece.

The PACWEST schedule has CapU making a ferry trip next with games Oct. 28 and 29 at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo. Start times are 7 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday.