The VIU women's basketball program will host the CCAA nationals in March of 2022 while the men's team hopes to travel to Ontario for their own tournament. (Brent Dunlop)

By Dan Marshall

Lofty Expectations

VIU basketball program aims for two national titles as women prepare to host nationals

Nov 12, 2021 | 9:50 AM

NANAIMO — The VIU Mariners women’s basketball team will end the season by hosting the CCAA nationals while the men’s squad will try to earn their spot at their own national tournament in Toronto.

Both teams started off the regular season with back to back road wins versus Camosun and will tip off at home Friday, Nov. 12 against Langara and Saturday, Nov. 13 with a visit from Okanagan.

The women are back on the court after winning consecutive PACWEST titles in 2019 and 2020. They would have been the hosts for the 2020 CCAA nationals which were cancelled because of COVID-19.

“I credit the CCAA a lot for giving it back to us,” Tony Brice, head coach of the women’s program told NanaimoNewsNOW. “Much of the ground work has already been done and I think the city is going to love it, it’s great high end basketball.”

The Mariners have played several exhibition games which includes some CIS level opponents.

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Bryce wanted to test his players for what is to come, calling this season a marathon and not a sprint.

“We’ve got a load of work to do and a lot of improvements to make. It’s about putting the right pieces of the puzzle together at the right time.”

VIU will be led by a veteran core Amber Lease, CJ Buckley, Kiara and Shayce Johnston and Kayla Gregory.

A major key to the Mariners success according to Bryce is the depth of the VIU roster, there are many players who can step up to lead the team on a given night.

The VIU men look to build on a PACWEST silver medal performance in 2020.

They’ll have to win their way to the national tournament hosted by Humber College in March of 2020.

Coach Matt Kuzminski said finally getting to play in front of home fans at VIU means a lot to him and the players.

“I think there’s a bit of a buzz in the community about our basketball team. I think it’s going to be an awesome experience all around and I’m hoping for a big crowd.”

The team already has it’s sights set on the national tournament but to get there Kuzminski has adopted a day by day approach.

“Everything we focus on is the process and the steps that are going to get us there. We outline those in detail for what we do offensive, defensively and how we want to behave as a team.”

Kuzminski said his three captains Tori Odom, Cameron Gay and Brett Christensen are critical components for team success.

Team recruiting also went very well with the Mariners the able to secure most of the players the wanted to fill out the 2021-22 roster.

The women’s side will get a lot of attention because they are hosting nationals but Kuzminski noted their can be a positive spinoff for the men’s team as well.

“I think it’s program building. The more excitement there is around the women’s program the more there is around the men’s and vice versa. We are separate but we’re also linked together so it lifts everybody up.”

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