The College of the Rockies Avalanche officially opened the 2019/2020 PACWEST season over the weekend as the Men’s and Women’s Volleyball teams hosted the Douglas College Royals in Cranbrook.
Opening action Friday night, the Women’s Avalanche would defeat the Royals 3-2 in an exciting five-set match.
Taylor Whittall had 14 kills in the match and collected 20 points to lead the team, while rookie Ecaterina Arabadji had 11 kills and 19 digs. The Avalanche would pick up where they left off on Saturday as they Women would earn a 3-1 victory over Douglas College. Whittall would again lead the way for the Avalanche, scoring 13.5 points in the match with a team-high 11 kills while Abigail Gruenhage had 10 kills and 12 points in the victory.
The Men’s Avalanche would struggle against the Royals to open their season, falling 3-1 in both of their matches Friday and Saturday.
Caleb Peters would lead the team with 28 kills and 38 points in both matches while Gustavo Bertoli netted 10 kills for 12.5 points.
The Women’s Avalanche will look to keep their momentum while Men’s Avalanche will look for their first wins when both teams hit the road this coming week. The Avalanche will be in Abbotsford for back-to-back doubleheaders Thursday and Friday against the Columbia Bible College Bearcats and again on Saturday and Sunday against the University of Fraser Valley Cascades.