Island Postseason Rivalry
The VIU Mariners meet the Camosun Chargers in a semi-final
#1 VIU Mariners vs. #4 Camosun Chargers – Friday February 23, 1:00pm | WATCH HERE
The 2024 PACWEST volleyball championship tournament will open on Friday afternoon with the women’s bracket. The top seeded VIU Mariners take on the defending PACWEST champion and fourth seeded Camosun Chargers in a women’s semi-final.
The Mariners have been simply outstanding this season finishing at the top of the standings at 18-2. They haven’t lost since November 10th when oddly enough the Chargers beat them in three-straight sets. Since then they have won 15 in a row and have earned a three-set sweep in four straight.
The Chargers stumble into the postseason winning just once in their last eight matches. They were able to fend off the CBC Bearcats who were pushing for the final playoff spot but came up two points short. The Chargers were swept last weekend at Douglas, the site of this championship.
During the regular season the Mariners and Chargers met four times with the Mariners winning three of them. They most recently met at the beginning of February with both matches going to four sets. Incredibly a total of 20 points separated these two teams in the standings.
They met last year in the PACWEST gold medal match with the Chargers earning a three-set sweep winning their first ever Conference title.
While the Chargers have won gold once, the Mariners have been the class of the Conference for a long time. They have reached the PACWEST gold medal match in the last nine consecutive seasons and overall have won the title 18 times.
The winner of this semi-final advances to the championship match and at the same time earns a berth at the CCAA national championship tournament in two weeks at Lakeland College in Alberta. The PACWEST has two invitations to the “big dance.”
Head-to-head
Records: Mariners 18-2 – Chargers 8-12
Sets Won: Mariners 55 – Chargers 33
Sets Lost: Mariners 19 – Chargers 40
Seasonal Series:
November 10th @ VIU – Chargers win in three sets: 25-15, 25-18, 25-21
November 11th @ VIU – Mariners win in four sets: 22-25, 25-19, 25-22, 27-25
February 2nd @ Camosun – Mariners win in four sets: 25-23, 25-15, 21-25, 25-13
February 3rd @ Camosun – Mariners win in four sets: 25-13, 30-28, 22-25, 25-22