The Capilano University basketball and volleyball teams will hit their home court for the last time in PacWest regular season action this weekend as the Blues battle for playoff positioning at the Sportsplex.
On the basketball court both the Capilano men and women sit in fourth place in PacWest play with identical 8-10 records. The Blues will host Columbia Bible College tomorrow night before playing their final home game Saturday against Kwantlen. On both nights the action will begin at 6 p.m. for the women followed by the men at 8 p.m. The Blues will then wrap up regular season play against Quest University in Squamish Feb. 21.
Both Blues teams have wrapped up playoff spots and will take part in the provincial championships running Feb. 27-March 1 at Douglas College.
In volleyball action the Blues men and women each have one regular season match left at the Sportsplex, Friday night against Douglas College. The women will start at 6 p.m. followed by the men.
Capilano will finish off the campaign the next night with a road game at Douglas. The Blues men head into the game in fourth place with an 11-11 record while the women sit in third at 13-9. Friday won't be the last time to catch the volleyball Blues in action on the North Shore - Capilano will host the PacWest championship tournament Feb. 20-22 at the Sportsplex. Both Blues teams have already clinched playoff spots and the Blues men will be going for a repeat title after winning the PacWest championship tournament in 2013.
Capilano's Elise Horton was named the PacWest women's basketball player of the week for games ending Feb. 1. The third-year forward from Coquitlam helped the Blues to huge wins over Douglas and Langara to solidify Capilano's playoff position.
On Friday, Jan. 31 Horton racked up 25 points by shooting nine for 14 from the field and seven for 10 from the free throw line, adding 22 rebounds for a huge double-double as Capilano beat Douglas 69-58.
The following night Horton posted another double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds as Capilano squeaked by Langara 59-58 in overtime.
The five-foot-11 forward started her post-secondary career at the University of Calgary and joined the Blues this season after taking a couple of years off. She's been on fire lately after a slow start to the season and now ranks eighth in the league with an 11.44 point-per-game average while leading the league in rebounding, collecting 9.44 per game.
Capilano's Sydney Thornton was named the PacWest women's volleyball athlete of the week for games ending Jan. 26.
Thornton paced the Blues to a pair of wins over Columbia Bible College, producing points at key moments in the weekend sweep. Thornton scored 17 kills and three digs as the Blues cruised to a 3-0 win on Friday night at the Capilano Sportsplex.
The following night was a tougher challenge but Thornton again rose to meet it, racking up 22 kills, 11 digs, three aces and two blocks as the Blues came back from an 0-2 hole to win in five sets.
"As a fourth year player, Sydney has shown she is a big force on the left side," said head coach Cal Wohlford in a PacWest release. "She provides consistency and stability which has greatly helped the Blues this year."
