Brent Mutis, CapU Sport Information & Compliance Officer
What looked to be a quick afternoon match at the opener of the PACWEST women's volleyball provincials turned into a five-set marathon but the No. 5-seed Capilano Blues held firm in the end to defeat the No. 4 College of the Rockies (COTR) Avalanche Thursday afternoon.
CapU took the opening set 25-14 and seemed in complete command after winning the second set 25-19.
COTR refused to lay down and go away quietly however and they stormed out to take the third set 25-11 before evening the match two sets apiece with a gritty 25-23 result in the fourth set to force a winner-take-all finale.
Nnya Mboama, who was later named Player of the Match and had one of her best games of the season Thursday with 12 kills (video clip below), showed up again in the fifth set by reeling off four straight points from the service line (video clip below) to get the Blues some breathing room. From there, the Blues were tidy with their passing to setter Kirsten Carta and allowed Mboama and Maya Griffith to get some big swings in on the way to victory.
With the win, CapU has guaranteed themselves a chance to play for a medal. They will face the No. 1-seed Vancouver Island University (VIU) Mariners Friday in a 5:30 p.m. start.
Nnya Mbaoma with an important kill late in the fifth set gives the Blues an 8-6 lead in this race to 15. #GoBlues pic.twitter.com/oqQUqmKimA Capilano University Blues (@CapilanoBlues) February 24, 2022
Nnya Mbaoma painting the line late in the 2nd set pushes the score to 24-19 before the Blues ultimately take the set for a 2-0 lead against @AvsVolleyball #GoBlues #NorthVan #CapilanoU pic.twitter.com/4lOH3IMmmw Capilano University Blues (@CapilanoBlues) February 24, 2022
