In a rematch of last season's PACWEST gold medal match, the undefeated College of the Rockies Avalanche hosted the Douglas Royals on Friday night in what became an instant classic. Both teams entered the weekend fresh off byes, but it was the home side that struck first, taking the opening set 25–18 and controlling much of the second. Douglas, however, showed the resolve of defending champions, erasing a 23–21 deficit to steal the second set and level the match.
The Avs regained momentum in the third behind timely offense from Albert Francisco, securing a 25–20 win to move ahead 2–1. But the top-ranked Avs couldn't put the Royals away. Douglas came out firing in the fourth, wresting control of the match with a convincing 25–16 win before carrying that surge into the fifth. The Royals built an early lead in the tiebreak and held off a late Avalanche push to win 15–10, handing COTR its first loss of the season.
Diego Policarpo led the Avs with 20 kills, while Francisco and Dylan Annala also reached double digits. Middle Noah Hadwen earned Player of the Game honours with 7 kills, 2 blocks, and an ace.
Coach Cisco Farrero reflected on the setback:
"I didn't expect to go through the PACWEST gauntlet undefeated, so tonight the lesson was: how does this group respond to losing? We felt off-rhythm all night, and even when we were winning, it didn't feel as clean as we needed. We gave away points we normally don't. Credit to Douglas — they really took it to us late, and their opposite, Marvin Tumusiime, was the best player in the gym. I'm looking forward to seeing how we respond tomorrow."
The response came quickly.
With less than 24 hours to regroup, the Avs returned to the floor Saturday afternoon and delivered one of their most complete performances of the season. The opening set was a battle requiring extra points, but COTR prevailed 28–26 thanks to 7 kills from Policarpo in the set alone. That momentum carried straight into the second as the Avs dominated wire-to-wire, with Boston Thiessen sealing the frame with an ace for a 2–0 lead.
Behind superb serve-receive from Francisco and Reece Clarke, Thiessen commanded the offense with precision in the third set. COTR stormed ahead 9–2 and never looked back, winning 25–16 to complete the 3–0 sweep and improve to 7–1 on the year.
After a huge third set, Annala finished with a match-high 18 points (14 kills, 2 blocks, 2 aces). Thiessen was brilliant, posting 40 assists, 4 aces, and 10 digs in the win.
Coach Farrero praised the mature response:
"That's exactly the response we were looking for. We were tremendous today. Diego and Dylan had their full offensive repertoire going, Albert and Reece were lights out in the backcourt, and Boston had the middles rolling. Beating a top team like Douglas in three sets takes an incredibly clean performance, and we were excellent. Our entire roster trains hard and pushes each other, and today showed what we can achieve when we're at our most cohesive."
