The Capilano Blues women's volleyball team finished tied for fifth at the 2014 CCAA National Championships held March 5-8 at Seneca College in Toronto, Ont.
Though they left with a 1-2 record, the Blues can take some solace in pushing the eventual champions from Red Deer College to the brink in their opening round matchup. The No. 6-ranked Blues and thirdranked Queens met on opening day in what turned out to be one of the best matches of the tournament. Red Deer stormed out to a 2-0 lead but the Blues battled back to win the next two and force a fifth set.
In the deciding set the teams were dead even again. With the score tied at 15-15 the Blues were burned on a hard luck play that saw the ball rolling along the net cord before finally deciding to hit the floor on Capilano's side. A few points later it was all over as Red Deer claimed a 25-17, 25-18, 13-25, 18-25, 18-16 victory. Red Deer went on the defeat the Grand Prairie Wolves 3-0 in the final.
Now on the consolation side, the Blues again went the distance to earn a fiveset win over Mount Saint Vincent. Sydney Thorton led the way for the Blues with 25 kills as Capilano claimed a 25-19, 23-25, 23-25, 25-22, 16-14 win.
Capilano's tournament came to an end in the bronze bracket semifinal where they ran out of gas, falling 3-0 to No. 1-ranked Cegep Garneau. Thorton was named a second team all-star for the tournament.
One North Shore link did crack the medals at the tournament as North Vancouver's Leanna Gildersleeve, a Sutherland grad, ended her collegiate career by leading her Vancouver Island University Mariners to bronze at the national championships. Gildersleeve, the PacWest player of the year, was named an All Canadian before the national championships began and earned a first team all-star nod for her showing at the tournament.
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The Capilano men's and women's basketball teams were also in action recently, battling for provincial glory at the PacWest championships.
The fourth-seeded Blues men won their opener, topping Camosun College for a tight 71-67 victory. The Blues held a narrow 37-36 lead at halftime and started to pull away in the fourth quarter with a Gino Pagbilao layup making it 67-55. The Chargers, however, raced back to get within two points at 69-67 with 21 seconds left in the game but that was as close as they'd come. Warren Liang led the way for the Blues with 16 points and seven rebounds.
Capilano's run for gold ended the next day in the semifinals as the No. 1-ranked Langara Falcons earned a 97-76 victory. Capilano kept it close against the eventual champions - the Falcons lost only one league game all year - but couldn't keep up in the second half as Langara turned a 40-35 halftime lead into a 75-51 blowout by the end of the third quarter. Asher Lewis led the way for the Blues in a losing effort, scoring 17 points with four rebounds and three steals.
The Blues then fell 95-77 to the Quest University Kermodes in the bronze medal match. Capilano's Andrew Morris earned player of the game honours for his 18 points and six rebounds.
Morris, a forward from Burnaby, was named a PacWest second team allstar and a member of the all-rookie team before the provincial championships began.
On the women's side Capilano's championships ended early as the fourthseeded Blues lost to the fifth-seeded Douglas College Royals on opening day. The Royals, tournament hosts, built a 44-25 lead by halftime and cruised to an 82-58 win. Capilano's Carmel M'Bikata was named player of the game for the Blues for her 11 points and five rebounds.
Capilano's Elise Horton, who didn't play in the provincial championships, earned PacWest first team all-star honours for her stellar regular season that saw her lead the league with an average of 10.24 rebounds per game. The Blues also placed two players on the all rookie team with Carson Graham grad Karyn Nelson and Argyle grad Chelsea Dekleer earning the honour.
