Brent Mutis, CapU Sport Information & Compliance Officer
There will be a new CCAA men's volleyball national champion in 2022 after the Capilano Blues dropped a five-set showdown with the College of the Rockies (COTR) Avalanche Thursday evening in the quarter-finals at the PACWEST provincials.
COTR won the opening set 25-22 but CapU rallied to take the next two, putting them a set away from the semifinals.
The Avalanche refused to go away though, facing match point on multiple occasions, and came out on top of an epic fourth set by a 38-36 count.
In a final set to 15, it was COTR that got there first, taking it 15-9 and claiming a spot in the Friday night semifinals against PACWEST NO. 1-seed Vancouver Island University.
For the Blues, it was not the story they wanted to write and caps off an up-and-down 2021-22 season that saw them fashion a 7-8 PACWEST record and go into the provincials as the No. 5 seed. Until Thursday, they remained the defending CCAA national champions from their 2020 title since no season took place in 2020-21.
It was the final game in the outstanding career of Jacob Hopkins, the outside hitter who finishes his Blues career in the top-five in team history for kills and among the top-25 all-time in digs.
Rafael Hilario was named Player of the Match on the Blues side Thursday as he turned in another solid night, leading the Blues attack in kills and using a booming serve to land multiple aces.
