Mariners Meet Tommies

VIU Mariners vs. St. Thomas Tommies – Thursday March 7, 12:00pm | WATCH HERE

The PACWEST champion VIU Mariners open the CCAA national volleyball championship on Thursday afternoon at Camosun in Victoria.

They will meet the surprise ACAA champion out of Fredericton New Brunswick, the St. Thomas Tommies. They hit their stride at the perfect time after finishing the regular season at 8-8, they claimed a pair of upsets at their Conference championship and find themselves headed back to Camosun. They were the ACAA champs the last time the Chargers hosted the nation in 2018 and they finished last.

The Mariners were also at the 2018 championship but didn’t meet the Tommies.

Speaking of the PACWEST champs, they make their second consecutive trip to the nationals searching for their first medal since winning bronze in 2019.  They have never won a national gold medal.

They showed incredible character and poise during the PACWEST title match falling behind Douglas 2-0 before clawing back to complete the reverse sweep and punching their ticket to the nationals. 

Offensively the Mariners appear to be healthy particularly Lucas Torres who was named the tournament MVP after crushing every set that came his way.  That said, the Mariners are extremely balanced and can get points from several different sources including Rylan Van Kooten, Daniel Mascarenhas and Kolton Rawlusyk.  If setter Owen Dyck can get everyone involved it could be awfully tough for the Tommies to defend.

The winner advances to the national semi-final scheduled for Friday.