Mariners Upset Royals
The #4 Mariners beat the #1 Royals in four sets in the semi-final
The VIU Mariners used their outstanding block defence to upset the Douglas Royals in four-sets and will now play for PACWEST gold on Saturday night.
The Mariners collected 34 blocks to frustrate the Royals high flying offence. Player of the Match Doug Groenendijk led the way with an incredible 12 blocks and Keal Prince collected seven and had 26 assists. On the offensive side the Mariners’ Braydon Brouwer had 11 kills and Vedran Obradovich finished with eight.
Due to the block defence of the Mariners the Royals found it difficult to get a rhythm offensively. PACWEST Player of the Year Reid Marriott led all attackers with 19 kills and Max Haronga collected 13. Greg Moore was named Player of the Match finishing with nine kills,
The service line seemed to be one of the biggest issues for the Royals. They missed 23 serves giving free points to the Mariners.
Saturday night the Mariners will play for PACWEST gold and face the Camosun Chargers for the third straight season at 8:00pm MST, 7:00pm PST. Meanwhile the Royals will face the Capilano Blues in the bronze medal match at 3:00pm MST.