The Camosun Chargers women’s and men’s volleyball teams hosted the three-day Pacific Western Athletic Association (PACWEST) provincial volleyball championships on February 26–28 at the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence at Camosun’s Interurban campus. The championships, which featured the province’s top six men’s and women’s teams, concluded on the evening of the 28th with the Camosun men winning the gold and the women taking silver.
In the men’s semifinals, the second-seeded Camosun Chargers faced off against the Vancouver Island University (VIU) Mariners.
Despite a promising comeback in the second set by the Mariners, the Chargers defeated them in the fourth, establishing a four-set victory for Camosun and advancing the Chargers men towards the chance for gold.
Chargers men’s head coach Charles Parkinson recognizes the abilities of the opposing team and was glad to see his team come back.
“The second set was a bit of a hiccup,” says Parkinson. “Our passing went to hell in a hand basket and VIU’s serving was really strong, but we recovered, which is the sign of a team that is peaking at the right moment. Our plan was to serve well, take their middles out of play, and force the ball to the wings and let our block and defense go to work.”
Second-year left side Cam Fennema captured Player of the Match honours for his strong performance of 14 kills and 5 digs throughout the game. The final score was Camosun 3, VIU 1 (25–17, 10–25, 25–19, 25–21).
Parkinson’s plans for glory paid off in the championship finals against the Douglas College Royals. The Chargers started the match with an exciting victory in the first set, causing the Royals to bump up their game. The Royals fought for control and took it in the second set, but the Chargers turned the match around by the third and kept it, winning themselves their second at-home PACWEST provincial championship title.
The final score was Camosun 3, Royals 1 (25–19 23–25, 25–23, 25–23). Fennema was Player of the Match again, hammering out 21 kills.
First-year left side Mark Severinsen says that the victory was the result of a lot of hard work.
“I’m pumped, we’ve been working for it all season,” he says, “and to have all that work finally pay off is just the best feeling in the world.”
The team is elated over the provincial victory, but Parkinson knows there’s still hard work ahead as they head to the national championships.
“I’m obviously really proud of the team, but this isn’t our end goal,” says Parkinson. “That’s nationals.”
Meanwhile, the women’s volleyball team started off strong, but fell short of capturing a home-court gold win. Starting off as the top-seeded women’s team, they battled the College of the Rockies (COTR) Avalanche in the women’s semi-finals. Camosun quickly defeated COTR and advanced to compete for gold against the VIU Mariners. The final scores were Camosun 3, CORT 0 (25–20, 25–18, 25–15).
Third-year middle Lainey Jantzi was just as excited as the rest of the team going into the final match.
“We are feeling really good,” she said before the finals. “We are excited, and we are going to play our game.”
Jantzi received Player of the Match for her nine kills, two aces, and one stuff block.
Women’s head coach Chris Dahl, who was recently named PACWEST Women’s Volleyball Coach of the Year, knew what challenges were ahead for his team going into the finals.
“VIU is going to have a good game plan,” he said before the finals. “They are going to come out and execute with a lot of heart and passion.”
That the women’s championship game was played against last year’s champions was also something that Dahl took into account.
“This is familiar territory for them,” he said, “so they’ll have their sights set on an absolute battle.”
The Chargers started off strong at the women’s championship finals, winning two consecutive sets. The Mariners weren’t about to give up that easily, however, and managed to turn the game around in the third.
The gold win went to the Mariners by the end of the fifth set and the Chargers took silver, which still advances them to the nationals. The final scores were VIU 3, Camosun 2 (15–25, 21–25, 26–24, 25–14, 15–12).
Chargers third-year outside hitter Katie Fetting was named Athlete of the Week, as well as Player of the Match, having produced 22 kills and one stuff block.
“Our team had a really excellent match,” says Fetting. “We did a lot of great things. It just didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to.”
Although the game didn’t turn out as planned, Fetting says she’s still proud of her teammates.
“I’m so incredibly proud of my team and what we did,” she says.
Both Camosun teams advance to the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) national championships, taking place March 11–14 at Holland College in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (men) and Cégep Édouard-Montpetit in Longueuil, QC (women).