Depth Charged
Mariners get contributions up and down the lineup, defeat Douglas 3-0 and qualify for the PACWEST gold medal game and the national championship tournament
Game recap courtesy the PACWEST
he second seeded Mariners punched their ticket to the men's gold medal match and the CCAA national championship after knocking off the defending champions, the third seeded Royals in three straight sets.
Their block defence frustrated the big swingers for the Royals not allowing them to find any rhythm to mount a comeback. The play of the Mariners' middles was outstanding led by Player of the Match Rowan MacPherson who came up with several massive blocks on Royals' First Team All-Star Marvin Tumusiime. Kieran Paauwe and Owen Dyck were part of their block defence that kept the Royals off balance.
On the offensive side the Mariners were led by a pair of fifth years in Rylan Van Kooten and Jake Stobbe. They would combine for 16 kills* with Stobbe finding space in the third set to finish off the defending champs.
In the second set, the Royals lost Niko Robles to a leg injury which completely changed their offensive punch. Before the setback he was leading his team with six kills and seemed to be one of the only players able to solve the Mariners block defence. Once he was gone the Royals looked to Tumusiime and Jakub Antosik who each finished with seven kills.* Setter Josh Singh was named the Royals' Player of the Match.
The Mariners won set scores of 25-19, 25-16 and 25-18.
With the win the Mariners will not only play for PACWEST gold on Saturday at 8:00pm but will represent the Conference at the CCAA nationals hosted in Edmonton.
The Royals will play for PACWEST bronze on Saturday afternoon at 3:00pm.
*stats are unofficial