Douglas College has all but wrapped up the PacWest men’s volleyball regular season title.
With just four games left on the schedule, the Royals swept two key matchups with third-place Vancouver Island University at home last weekend.
Second-year outside hitter George Thompson had a monster opening game for Douglas, registering 21 kills, four blocks and two service aces in a 3-1 win over the visitors from Nanaimo last Friday.
The Royal men dropped the opening set 31-29 to the Mariners but were on form for the rest of the two-day series.
Freshmen hitters Matt Santema and Carson Heppell both contributed double-digit offence to Friday’s win.
Santema had 12 kills, while Heppell contributed 13 kills, four digs and two blocks.
Ahmad Mustafa Haq and Scott Devlin also contributed at the net towards the Royals’ 76 points of total offence that included a combined 57 kills.
Douglas finished off the opening match 25-22, 25-23, 25-16.
On Saturday, the Royals knocked off Vancouver Island in three straight sets – 25-20, 25-21, 25-20.
Heppell led the way with 11 kills, three digs, two blocks and two aces, while Santema added 10 kills, six digs, two blocks and an ace.
The wins improved the college’s record to 17-3, a full six points ahead of current second-place school Camosun College at 14-6.
Vancouver Island University is two points back at 13-7.
The Royals finish up their regular season schedule close to home against 11-9 Columbia Bible College at Douglas this week and last-place Capilano University the following week in a home-and-home series.
In PacWest women’s volleyball, the Royals slipped to 4-16 following a reversal of fortunes in their two-match set against Vancouver Island.
The Royals lost 3-0 and 3-1 to the third-place Mariners at home last weekend.
In PacWest basketball, both the Douglas men and women split their road weekend matchups with Vancouver Island University and Camosun College.
The third-place women lost 60-49 to VIU in Nanaimo on the opening leg of the Vancouver Island swing.
Rachel Beauchamp led the Royals with 14 points and seven rebounds.
Douglas fared better in Victoria, downing Camosun 61-38 on Sarah Jorgenson’s game-high 16-point, 12-rebound contribution. Beauchamp also chipped in with 13 points and six boards, including five off the offensive glass.
The split left the women at 10-6, six points behind Vancouver Island and 12 points shy of unbeaten Quest University.
The Douglas men also fell to VIU, 91-61.
Malcolm Mensah and Kirstian Hildebrandt led the Royals with 17 and 13 points, respectively.
Justin King posted a game-high 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting for the Mariners.
The following night, Douglas came back from an 11-point deficit to defeat Camosun 84-74. Mensah had 24 points and 10 boards for the Royals.
