Avalanche Needing Bounce Back Match

COTR Avalanche vs. Providence Pilots – Thursday March 6, 2:00pm MST

The Avalanche are looking to bounce back on Thursday afternoon after falling 3-0 in their quarterfinal to the Humber Hawks on the opening day of the CCAA national championship tournament.

Their offence was led by Diego Policarpo with a team high 16 kills, but did collect 11 errors which hurt his percentage and the team’s success.  Reed Grusing was named the Player of the Match with 12 kills along with two aces, three digs and he had a pair of blocks.

Each of the sets were close as the Avalanche battled the five-time Ontario champion Hawks all match long. The Hawks squeaked out the first set 25-23, then needed extra points in the second winning 28-26. In the third the Avalanche did everything they could to bounce back, but the Hawks were just too strong and finished off the match with a 25-20 victory.

The setback pushes the Avalanche to the bronze side of the bracket and a very busy schedule. They will meet the Providence Pilots on Thursday afternoon in a bronze medal quarterfinal.  The Pilots fell 3-0 in their quarterfinal match on Wednesday with the Red Deer Kings and didn’t see a player record double figures in kills.   Noah Boschman was their team leader offensively with nine kills.  

During the regular season, the Pilots were awesome finishing 19-1 and won the Manitoba Conference.  They will also have the homecourt advantage as the host school and would want nothing more than to give their hometown crowd something to cheer about.

The winner advances to the bronze medal semi-final on Friday while the loser will play in the Placement Match, also on Friday.