Brent Mutis
CapU sport info

So far, home court seems to be a much friendlier place for the Capilano Blues than on the road.

CapU won four straight at the Centre for Sport and Wellness to open the PACWEST season and zoomed to a No. 2 national ranking. That changed after last weekend with a pair of away losses to the Douglas College Royals, both by 3-1 counts.

The games were played in a Thursday-Friday arrangement, as opposed to the typical Friday-Saturday. In Thursday's opener, the Blues got healthy offensive numbers including nine kills from Sibby Bos, seven from Vanesa Gatto and four aces from Nnya Mbaoma. Anika Gatto left her mark on the match as well with 10 digs but even though CapU was just a few points away from claiming the set in both the first and fourth sets, they couldn't get the points they needed when it mattered.

Up 22-18 in the opening set, the Blues forced Douglas to call a timeout. CapU even claimed the first point after the timeout and needed just two more points but stalled there as the Royals took the next seven points. It was a similar story in the fourth set as the Blues held leads of 20-18 and 23-22 before Douglas snuck out the win.

On Friday, Capilano made too many errors on serve receiving in the first two sets, dropping them 25-13 and 25-17. They rallied to claim the third set 25-22 with a cross-court swing from Mbaoma clinching it. She ended up with 11 kills. Douglas found the gear they needed to close it out 25-20 in the fourth set. 

Annika Kuznik racked up eight kills Friday while Annika Gatto posted a season-high 19 digs. Natalie Rourke was in on three blocks while Makenna Hamilton-Jackson served up three aces.

Capilano is at home this coming weekend, Nov. 17 and 18, with Vancouver Island University paying a visit. Game times are 6 p.m. on Friday and 1 p.m. on Saturday.