From Friday, January 24, to Sunday, January 26, the VIU Mariners, collectively, played a total of nine games. Men’s Hockey, Women’s Volleyball, Men’s Volleyball, Women’s Basketball, and Men’s Basketball were the active teams throughout the weekend; all of the teams played on the opposing team’s territory and played two games each, with the exception of Men’s Hockey who only played one game. The Mariners just fell short of a perfect weekend, finishing with eight wins, and one loss on the road.
Beginning with hockey, the Mariners were given a shot at redemption as they traveled to UVic to face the Vikes on Friday night. Just a week prior, January 17, the Mariners hosted the Vikes, losing 8-2.
Things were different this week, as the Men’s Hockey Team took the first Mariners win of the weekend, taking a confident 4-1 victory.
With four minutes left in the first period, Garrett Dunlop scored the first Mariners goal, assisted by Gavin Rauser and Conner Mowatt.
Just over three minutes into the second, Max Creighton scored the second Mariners goal off the assist from Liam Sweeney and Rauser. Later, with four minutes and eight seconds left of the second, Sweeney would score his own goal, assisted by Brett Witala and Quinlan Moore. The score was 3-0 for the Mariners going into the third.
Only one and a half minutes into the third, the Vikes scored their first goal, but the Mariners would keep them from making a comeback. With a little less than eight minutes left in the game, Gage Colpron would score the final goal of the night for the Mariners, unassisted.
The Mariners Men’s Hockey team pushed their record to 9 wins, 6 losses, and 2 overtime losses. They are currently ranked third in the BCIHL.
Although traveling prior to a game is never ideal, the Mariners Volleyball Teams made the gruelling trek out to the College of the Rockies (COTR) for their weekend activities. On Friday night, the Women’s Volleyball Team picked up where the Men’s Hockey team left off, winning their bout with COTR 3-1.
VIU won the first two periods, 25-17, 25-23, but would fall to COTR in the third, 25-22. But the Mariners wouldn’t allow the chance to comeback, as they would go on to close the match, winning the fourth 25-19.
The Mariners Men’s Volleyball Team would follow suite, taking a 3-1 win of their own against the COTR. The first period would be a close one, resulting in a 29-27 Mariners win. In the second, the COTR would even the match, winning 25-20, but the Mariners would fight hard in the third for another 29-27 win. The Mariners wouldn’t allow a fifth period, ending the match, and the night, with a dominant 25-17 victory.
The Women’s Volleyball Team would continue their hot streak on Saturday afternoon, as they would take a convincing 3-0 win over the COTR. The final score of each period was 25-17, 25-15, and 25-18.
The Mariners Women’s Volleyball Team remain undefeated on the season, with an 18 game win streak. They are at the top of the standings in PACWEST, and they look to keep riding their success into the upcoming weekend as they travel to the Columbia Bible College (CBC) for games on Friday, January 31, and Saturday, February 1.
The Men’s Volleyball Team continued the Mariners sweep over the COTR, winning a tight contest, 3-2. The COTR looked to protect their home court, taking the first period 25-23. In response, the Mariners would take the second with the same score, 25-23. They would ride their momentum, taking the third in dominant fashion, scoring 25-12. The home team would make a soft comeback, however, forcing a fifth period, winning the fourth 25-21. The final period of the match would be a close one, but it would see the Mariners win, 15-13.
The Mariners Men’s Volleyball Team have pushed their win streak to 10 games now, as they sit second in the PACWEST standings, with a record of 14-4. Capilano is first in the standings, with the Mariners only trailing behind by two points.
The Mariners Men’s Volleyball Team will look to continue their climb up the leaderboard as they travel to CBC with the Women’s team for games on Friday, January 31, and Saturday February 1.
A brief pause in Mariners success would come at the expense of the Women’s Basketball Team, as they suffered their first loss of the season to the Capilano Blues on Saturday night. The final score of the game was 78-65.
Starting Guard, Amber Lease finished with a game-high 22 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and an astounding 7 steals, contributing to a team win in turnovers, with the Mariners having 10 of their own, but the forcing 24 on the Blues. The Mariners were cold offensively, however, as they collectively shot poorly from the field, beyond the arc, and at the free throw line.
The Mariners also lost in rebounding, 40-35, but the most glaring aspect of the loss is fouls; the Mariners finished the game with 28 player fouls, with four of the team’s five starters in foul trouble.
In the first, all of the starters had incurred at least one foul, and the team had eight fouls in total, forcing them to play more disciplined and less aggressive in the second. So despite an even 17-17 point game in the first, the second quarter decided the contest, as it saw Capilano pull away, scoring 18 in the second and holding the Mariners to only half of that.
The Saturday night action concluded with a nail-biter, as the Mariners Men’s Basketball Team took an 82-80 win over the Blues. Starting Forward, Cameron Gay, tied with a Capilano player for the game high of 22 points, but Gay also recorded 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 steals.
Capilano took an early 23-14 lead in the first quarter, but the Mariners wouldn’t let them run away with the game. In total, the game would see 7 ties and 10 lead changes.
Later, Capilano would score with 12 seconds left in the game, pushing the score to 80-79. The Blues would then make an intentional foul to stop the clock, and force free-throws. Brett Christensen, a Forward off the Bench, would knock down both free-throws, pushing the lead to three. Capilano would then make one free-throw to bring the score to 82-80.
Mariners action would pick back up on Sunday afternoon as the Mariners Women’s Basketball Team had the opportunity to get revenge for their Saturday night loss. The Mariners would win 78-69, with VIU’s highest scorers, Starting Forward, Kiara Johnston and her teammate Courtney Buckley, off the Bench, tying for 14 points. Johnston also pulled down 11 boards for a double-double. Buckley, on the other hand, also contributed 2 rebounds and 2 assists.
The Mariners were much more productive this time around, as they shot 45% from the field, 32% behind the arc, and they won the game in rebounds, pulling down 38 in comparison to Capilano’s 27.
Although the Mariners Women’s Basketball Team’s flawless record has come to an end, they remain atop the PACWEST standings, with a record of 11-1. They have an off week this week, so their next pair of games comes on Friday, February 7, and Saturday February 8, where they will look to rebuild their win streak as they host CBC.
Men’s Basketball finished the nine game weekend with a final victory over Capilano, with a comfortable lead of 82-64. Gay recorded a game-high 23 points, and an accompanying 6 rebounds, 1 assist, and 3 steals. His teammate, and Starting Guard, Landon Radliff recorded 21 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals.
The team shot an efficient 42% from the field, but were cold from the 3-point line, only shooting 26%. The team adapted to this, however, scoring a whopping 50 points in the paint.
Although Capilano started with an 18-15 point lead in the first, the Mariners held the Blues to only 10 points in the second. From that point on, it was the Mariner’s game, as they held the lead until the final buzzer.
The Mariners Men’s Basketball Team are currently riding a four-game win streak, as they pushed their record to 10-2, for the second spot in the PACWEST standings. Like the Women’s Basketball Team, the Mariners have some off time, as they await their home games against CBC on Friday February 7, and Saturday, February 8.
