The College of the Rockies Avalanche entered the weekend carrying national recognition for the first time since October 2019, earning the #15 spot in the CCAA rankings. Their opponents, the #10-ranked Douglas Royals, arrived in Cranbrook for a highly anticipated matchup between two of the country's top programs—and the weekend did not disappoint.
Friday night's opener, played in front of an energized home crowd, was a back-and-forth battle from start to finish. Douglas made the key plays late to take the first set, but the Avs bounced back in sets two and three thanks to elite serve-receive from Eloise Newsome—who posted an impressive 2.28 passing rating (out of 3)—and strong attacking from right side Sloane Brodner, who contributed six kills on the night. Douglas dominated the fourth set to force a decisive fifth, and while the Avs jumped ahead early, the Royals mounted a comeback to claim the 5th set 15–10.
Reflecting on the first match, Coach Bryan said, "We were excited to be back in our home gym after the Island trip and felt really prepared for Douglas. We knew it was two good teams going up against each other and that it would likely come down to a few small moments. On Friday our serve receive went from really good for most of the game to us struggling to keep the ball in play in the 5th set—that was the difference."
Saturday's rematch at noon followed a very different script. Douglas' aggressive serving initially overwhelmed the Avs, leading to struggles in the first two sets as errors piled up and scoring became difficult. The turning point came in the third set when Maya Bowden and Masyn Whittingham entered the game, immediately energizing the Avalanche's block defense and altering the momentum.
Coach Bryan noted, "On Saturday, we had a few key players who weren't playing up to their usual standards and it cost us early. Our leadership from Hannah and Daivan sustained us, and both Masyn and Maya came in with fresh energy and made a massive impact. It was great to see us find a way to win and will hopefully be a valuable learning opportunity in terms of game preparation and understanding how important it is to be ready for every single PACWEST match. This league is unforgiving—which is why it's such a great league—and it really shows how critical team depth is."
With the defensive momentum fueling the team, the Avalanche's offense followed suit. Daivan Scherman led the charge with 9 kills, while the team collectively outlasted the Royals on both sides of the net. The Avs prevailed in a dramatic fifth-set tiebreak to capture the win and split the weekend series against one of PACWEST's elite programs.
The Avalanche now enjoy a bye weekend before returning home to host the Capilano Blues on November 28 and 29.
