Royals Open Nationals

Dragons de Sainte-Anne vs. Douglas Royals – Wednesday March 5, 3:00pm CST / 1:00pm PST

The PACWEST champion Douglas Royals open the CCAA national championship tournament on Wednesday afternoon against the ACAA champion from Church Point, Nova Scotia.

It’s the first time these two schools meet in the post season, and both come into the national championship after winning their respective Conference.  Just two weeks ago the Royals, as the third seed, upset both the #2 and #1 ranked teams to reach their first national championship as a Conference champion since 2014.

They will face the Dragons who won the ACAA championship in four sets over St. Thomas University.  The Tommies took the first set, before the Dragons won the next three in convincing fashion to win Atlantic gold.  During the regular season they were the top ranked team at 18-2 led by Liam Pelletier and his incredible 310 kills.

For the Royals to advance, they must find the same balanced attack they had during the PACWEST playoffs utilizing several different options on the offensive side but also play solid at the net.  Their blocking scheme during the Conference championship tournament was unbeatable in helping them to win the gold medal.

The Royals are making their first trip to the nationals since they hosted the championship in 2016 and finished fourth.

The winner of this match advances to the semi-finals on Thursday.