Report Card: Capilano Blues
One of the biggest surprises of the first semester
The Capilano Blues surprised many across the PACWEST with their very competitive play in the first semester and entered the break with a 500 record. They won four straight matches in the month of November, before dropping their final two before the holidays.
They have been very good at home so far this year with a 5-1 record but will need to clean up their play on the road, still looking for their first win away from Capilano. They have shown resiliency and a competitive edge in the first half, something rookie head coach Irvan Brar has been looking for since the day he was hired by the Blues.
On the offensive side they have been fairly balanced in their scoring with Luke Tiegen emerging as their best weapon with 117 kills while Xavier Masztak continues his strong play after being named to the All-Rookie Team and as a Second Team All-Star last year collecting 77 kills at the break.
Following the first half of play, coach Brar give his club a letter grade of an A-, “We've had a great start to the year with some good matches versus all the PACWEST teams, compared to previous seasons. All teams in the league are strong and have really good compete, but still a lot is yet to be done on our end in terms of consistency, culture and being a program with resilience, tenacity and trust. All qualities of GREAT programs.”
“So far this season I would say our strengths are those very words, resilience, tenacity and trust. There is no limit to this team and the program.”
With the second half opening this weekend the Blues will resume the schedule in their familiar settings at home, where they have played very well to date. When looking at the second half, coach Brar has indicated a couple of spots for improvement, “We need to find that consistency and build a culture for this team and for Blues teams to come in the future.”
They will host the defending PACWEST champion Douglas Royals on Friday when the schedule resumes. They dropped both matches to the Royals to open the season back in October.