Brent Mutis
CapU sports info
While the postseason was already out of reach, the Capilano Blues still felt they had something to play for going up against the No. 1-ranked team in the country in their home gym.
That motivation showed through as the Blues scored a big upset, going into the 30s in extra points in two of the sets, on the way to a 3-1 win Friday night at the College of the Rockies (COTR).
Nate Raabe opened some eyes in the first set with five kills, more than his total for the season to that point. The 6-foot-5 outside hitter wound up with six kills while getting in on five block assists for the night.
Marco Kost and Jakob Leinemann got involved early too, each picking up for kills in the opening set that wound up 34-32 for the Blues. Jonah Violini recorded an eye-popping 18 assists in the first set on his way to 43 on the night.
Kost got four more kills in the second set, which went 32-30 to the Blues. Trevor Matthysen picked up both of his aces on the night in the second set to help put CapU in the driver’s seat. Capilano had COTR on the ropes earlier in the season, up two sets to none in a Nov. 25 match where the Avalanche wound up coming back to win.
This time around, the Blues got it right, even after dropping the third set by a 25-23 score. The decisive fourth set saw multiple kills from Kost, Leinemann and Brendan Zebrynski while Cole Appleton capped his flawless receiving night in the libero spot with five tidy first touches, part of 29 he made for the night.
Saturday’s match went to the home side in straight sets as the Avalanche set their graduating seniors off on a high note. Zebrynski had nine more kills Saturday as the Blues pushed COTR to extra points again in the opening set. Isaiah Ohori picked up eight kills while Leinemann had three aces.
The PACWEST provincials are this weekend at Douglas College in New Westminster. COTR is the No. 1 seed and will face the host Royals in one semifinal while the other will feature No. 2 Vancouver Island University and No. 3 Camosun College.
