Blues Take Down Champs

Courtesy of Mo Hussain

The Capilano University Blues advance to their fifth PACWEST provincial gold medal match tomorrow afternoon after defeating the VIU Mariners 3-2 on Friday afternoon.

Blues second year player Rafeal Hilario finished as their player of the match finishing with a game-high 22 kills, topping his season-high 21 kills.

The defending PACWEST champion Mariners got on the score sheet first as an 8-1 run midway through the first set helped them go up 1-0 heading into the second set.

The Blues then brought it right back in the second as a 7-2 run of their own later in the set helped them take the second set 25-17.

The third set saw both squads battle back and forth as neither team lead by more than three until about the midway point when a 10-4 Mariners run secured the third set 25-18 for the Mariners.

The Blues then turned the tables once again as a 5-1 run to close off the fourth set to tie things up, taking it 25-19.

Ultimately, it was the Blues who clinched the victory, as after both teams traded points up until the game was tied at 15, a block from Blues fifth year setter Simon Friesen combined with a strong hit from Hilario deflected out by the Mariners won the Blues the 5th set 17-15.

Mariners fifth year player Braydon Brouwer finished as the Mariners player of the match after racking up 13 kills and seven digs. Mariners rookie left-side Dario De Queiroz-Pereira finished with a career high 16 kills and nine digs.

The Blues move on to tomorrow’s gold medal match taking on either the top seeded Douglas College Royals or the fourth seed Camosun Chargers.

The last time the Blues played in the gold medal match was in 2012-13 when they won their third provincial championship, defeating the Mariners 3-1.

Players of Match:

Capilano - Rafael Hilario

VIU - Braydon Brouwer