Brent Mutis, CapU Sport Information & Compliance Officer
Down two sets to none and missing some key pieces from the lineup, the Capilano Blues managed to push for an exciting finish in a straight-sets loss to the visiting College of the Rockies (COTR) Avalanche Saturday night at CapU's Centre for Sport and Wellness.
The Blues have been without second-year middle Aimee Tilley all season as she works back from a knee injury and last week, starting setter Kelsey Towers also opted for knee surgery to address a lingering injury.
COTR took the first two sets, 25-19 and 25-20. The service game was problematic for the Blues as they gave away some easy points from behind the line. But in the third set, rather than folding and making it a quick night, CapU pushed the visitors to extra points in what turned into an epic set.
The teams swapped points well past 25 with some long rallies firing up the home crowd. Hannah Shelemey picked up a few kills in the final set with some big swings while Stephanie Sung and Daphiny Kung covered a lot of court defensively. COTR ultimately put back-to-back points together and took the final set 33-31 to improve to 3-8 in PACWEST play. The Blues drop to 4-9 and sit in fourth place.
Next up for the Blues are two home games to close out the PACWEST regular season. Douglas College visits CapU Friday, Feb. 11 and Saturday, Feb. 12 with both games starting at 6 p.m.
Blues outside hitter Maya Griffith spoke postgame on the home setback to COTR:
A few photos from tonight's women's volleyball match here in the Centre for Sport and Wellness in beautiful #NorthVancouver pic.twitter.com/gHSGrTNU3g Capilano University Blues (@CapilanoBlues) February 6, 2022