Story Credit - Ryan Watters, pacwestbc.ca
#1 COTR Avalanche vs. #4 Douglas Royals – Friday February 23, 8:00pm | WATCH HERE
For the first time in school history the COTR Avalanche are the top seeded team heading into the PACWEST championship tournament. They will face the fourth seeded Douglas Royals and a very hostile crowd with the Royals hosting the championship.
The Avalanche won the seasonal series with the Royals 3-1, but all four matches were a grind with three of them ending in five sets.
In their first weekend meeting in Cranbrook the Avalanche fell behind 2-1 on both days, needing to win the fourth set to force a fifth. During their Friday night tilt, they won 26-24 in the fourth, then 20-18 in the fifth.
When the scene shifted to Douglas in January right after the holiday break the Avalanche won in four sets on the Friday night. Then in the rematch on the Saturday, the Avalanche fell behind 2-0, battled back to tie it at two, forcing yet another decisive fifth set that the Royals won 18-16 for their lone win of the seasonal series.
The Royals will try and use that as momentum, along with a ruckus crowd to complete the upset.
The Avalanche are coming into this postseason winning four of their last five and are the top ranked team in the country as per the CCAA power rankings. The Royals meanwhile are the hottest team in the PACWEST winning six straight, haven't dropped a set in the month of February and were 8-2 on their home floor during the regular season.
These schools have met in the PACWEST bronze medal match in the last two years with the Avalanche winning both. They hosted last year and beat the Royals in three sets, and beat them in four in 2022 as the #4 seed.
The last time the Royals beat the Avalanche in the postseason was a 2017 quarterfinal, upsetting them as the fifth seed. The Avalanche were ranked fourth and the Royals beat them in five sets and would eventually win a bronze medal that season.
The winner of this semi-final match will move onto play for PACWEST gold on Saturday while the loser plays for bronze on the same day.
Head-to-head
Records: Avalanche 16-4 - Royals 11-9
Sets Won: Avalanche 54 – Royals 45
Sets Lost: Avalanche 26 – Royals 32
Seasonal Series:
November 3rd @ COTR – Avalanche win in five sets: 22-25, 27-25, 18-25, 26-24, 20-18
November 4th @ COTR – Avalanche win in fives sets: 25-20, 20-25, 19-25, 25-17, 15-12
January 12th @ Douglas – Avalanche win in four sets: 25-18, 19-25, 25-18, 25-21
January 13th @ Douglas – Royals win in five sets: 26-24, 25-22, 23-25, 23-25, 18-16