Players on court for the VIU Mariners come together after falling in four sets to Humber College at the CCAA National Championships in Nanaimo Wednesday night. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

drive over

VIU Mariners fall at women’s volleyball nationals in Nanaimo

Mar 8, 2023 | 8:25 PM

NANAIMO — After four straight years of raising a banner and wearing gold as national champions, the VIU women’s volleyball team will have to settle for a bronze-at-best finish.

The Mariners fell in four sets (24-26, 25-14, 25-22, 25-21) to Humber College from Ontario at the VIU gym on Wednesday, March 8. The loss drops VIU into the consolation side of the draw and out of contention for another national title.

Coach Shane Hyde told NanaimoNewsNOW after the match, the pressure to win for a record fifth straight time, on home court, was a major factor.

“I can’t sugar coat it, there were a lot of nerves. We played with it all year, Humber’s team played pretty good against us, we didn’t get any breaks from the referees and it is what it is.”

CCAA women’s player of the year Jane Lytvynenko spikes during the fourth set against Humber. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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After cruising in the first set, VIU dropped the second on the back of some short points, errors and quality Humber play.

Hyde called near back-to-back timeouts in a bid to re-organize his team.

A string of calls went against the Mariners throughout the matchup which saw both players and Hyde show frustration on court.

Match officials countered by issuing the Mariners both yellow cards as warnings at different points and a red card which handed Humber a penalty point.

Down by as much as eight in the fourth set, VIU rallied to trim the gap to four before Humber closed out the match.

Hyde said the challenge now for the group is to not let the loss be compounded further.

“We’ll have to refocus for sure. I’ve won a lot of bronze medals in my life, a medal is still a medal and this group of girls is pretty amazing group so we’ll be battling for that. This is a stinger so we’re going to put a bandaid on it and get going.”

The Mariners will face Rouges de Saint-Boniface in their quest for bronze on Thursday, March 9 at 3 p.m.

Megan Duffy organizes her team ahead of a first set point against Humber. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

In Etibicoke, Ontario, the VIU mariners men’s volleyball team also fell in their quarter-final matchup, to Sherbrooke in five sets.

The Mariners won the opening two sets 27-25 and 25-20 before Sherbrooke rallied to win the next two, both by 26-24 margins.

Sherbrooke won the deciding fifth set to send VIU into the consolation side of the draw.

They’ll take on Sainte-Anne at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday.

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