Soccer
The men’s soccer team captured a silver medal at the CCAA National Championship earlier this month. The Mariners defeated second-seeded Holland College 3–0 and PacWest Provincial Champions Douglas College 2–1 to advance to the final game against Humber College.
VIU fell to Humber in a heartbreaking 2–2 game that was decided by a 7–6 shootout. Jamie Taylor scored for M’s to tie the game with 20 minutes remaining, and striker AJ Kambere nearly scored in the final minute after his shot hit the goalpost.
Tournament all-star accolades were awarded to Dan Cato, Jordan DeGraff, and Matt Mehrassa. Chris Merriman also had an effective tournament for VIU, who contributed to key goals while playing through injury.
Basketball
The men’s squad collected three wins in four road games from Nov. 9–17. The M’s defeated Douglas College 77–60 in a game where Brandon Jones led VIU with 16 points, but suffered a close 75–69 loss to Langara the following day. VIU went on to defeat the Quest Kermodes 78–62 and Capilano Blues 81–52 and improve to 4–1 in the standings.
The women are struggling offensively on the court without key players Jocelyn Jones and Erin Vekic in the lineup. The trip began with a 52–33 loss to Douglas on Nov. 9, before defeating Langara 72–47. The following weekend VIU lost 60–51 to Quest and 47–38 to Capilano.
Both teams will face Columbia Bible College and Kwantlen College at home this weekend in the final matches of 2012.
Volleyball
The women’s volleyball team is off to a fantastic start after winning eight of ten matches. VIU didn’t drop a set for six matches, including weekend sweeps of Douglas and Capilano. The Mariners raised their 2012 National Championship banner to the rafters prior to their home-opener match.
The men are happy to return home after losing twice on the road to Douglas Nov. 2–3. The Mariners won four consecutive games upon returning home, defeating Capilano and University of the Frasier Valley both twice. Tory Zaytsoff was named PacWest Player of the Week after posting 49 offensive points over the weekend.