The Douglas College Royals volleyball team should be in for a rise in the polls following a weekend sweep of the defending Canadian collegiate champion and No. 5-ranked Columbia Bible College.
The Royal men swept the Abbotsford college in straight sets at home Friday. Douglas then eked out a five-set victory the following night.
Fifth-year Burnaby North grad and right-side hitter Jeff Taylor led the Friday sweep with 18 kills and one service ace against the Bearcats.
Second-year Moscrop grad and team libero Jordan Or kept the ball alive in the Douglas court with 12 digs, while setter Rex Fenton chipped in with four kills, three aces and one block.
In all, Douglas collected nine aces in the weekend opener, while attacking with a kill percentage of 49 per cent.
In the first two sets, the Royals outscored the bible college 5-1 and 5-3, respectively, to pull out wins after the score was deadlocked at 20-20.
It took a greater effort on Saturday as Douglas rallied to post a 25-20, 2325, 22-25, 25-23, 15-9 victory over Columbia.
Middle blocker Andrew Robson led Douglas with 14 kills and four blocks. Outside hitter Sam Shaw also had 12 winners while attacking with a .530 efficiency and a 63 per cent kill percentage.
In tiebreaker, Fenton started things off with two service aces.
Robson continued his strong play with three kills and a single block, while Or had three digs in the back.
"It was a gritty effort after going down two sets to one and coming back to win in five against the defending national champs," said Douglas head coach Brad Hudson.
With the upset win, the Royals moved up to fifth in overall Canadian College's Athletic Association men's volleyball rankings.
