VIU gets two wins over Avalanche men's team

VIU gets two wins over Avalanche men's team

Story/Photo Credit: Cranbrook Townsman

College of the Rockies men's volleyball team didn't have the weekend they would have hoped to against the Vancouver Island University Mariners.

The went down 3-1 on Oct. 26 and 3-0 on Oct. 37 against the Mariners who are top of the PacWest standings with a 6-0 record.

"VIU is really good," said head coach Cisco Farrero.

"We knew they would be, I was really hoping that we would play our best. The one thing about a team like VIU is they do a good job at preventing you from playing your best."

While being down early in Saturday's match, frustration seemed to be setting in for a bit.

"It's really important in the men's volleyball game that you only do your job, and I think our team is learning the lesson you can't make up for somebody else missing a point by trying to do their job because you end up not doing your own," said Farrero.

Throughout the weekend, Farrero noted middle blocker Alex Avery, Breno Fabbri, and Gustavo Bertoli as having good games.

Being defeated by VIU, Farrero says will give the players an idea of the level they have to play in order to beat them later in the year.

"It was a good learning lesson. When it comes down to see them at the end if we want to get a conference championship you have to beat the best team in the conference. I do think it's them, that lineup we saw today was probably the best one in our conference, and we were okay, but okay doesn't beat the best," he said.

Working on reception will be key going into the next couple of games, especially against Columbia Bible College (CBC) who they play Nov. 9 at home.

"They are a pretty decent serving team, and we are way more physical than they are, but in order for us to win, we have to remain in the system. Our reception is the most important part," said Farrero.

Next week will be a bye week for the Avalanche, as they work to prepare for CBC.

"We understand our performance needs to be a little bit better, we play CBC coming up and it's really important games. They won both in our gym last year. I like our matchups, but we have to take care of the ball better," said Farrero.

Outside hitter Kyle Butchart has been out for four weeks with an ankle injury, Farrero says they expect him to be back in two weeks.