Radio stations have the Drive at Five. Camosun College volleyball has the Drive for Five.
The four-time defending champion Camosun Chargers enter the Pacwest Conference men’s volleyball championship tournament in Cranbrook looking for one for the thumb, as is said about a fifth championship ring.
The Chargers (18-6 in the regular season) are the No. 2 seed behind the Douglas College Royals (20-4). But not to worry, because rarely during their run, have the Chargers entered the post season as the top seed from the regular season. This is a team that knows how to win when it counts. No team has won five consecutive Pacwest men’s volleyball championships and fifth-year, six-foot-five Chargers star Douglass Waterman out of Belmont Secondary will attempt to go out as the only player in conference history to do so.
“You only have to peak once,” said Camosun head coach and former Canadian national team captain Charles Parkinson.
“We do our pre-season planning by working back from the playoffs.”
Having been through it before, little surprises the 2015 national-champion Chargers in the post-season.
“Our guys are ready. Our edge is that the majority of our players know what playoff pressure in the Pacwest is all about, and there is no substitute for experience,” said Parkinson, colour commentator for CBCs coverage of volleyball in the Summer Olympics from Atlanta, Sydney, Athens, Beijing, London and Rio from 1996 through 2016.
“We are steady, motivated and are never over stimulated.”
The Chargers are led by the dynamic Brazilian duo of Eduardo Bida, last year’s Pacwest playoff MVP, and Vitor Periera, who led the conference with 339 kills.
Camosun and Douglas College have a bye into Friday’s semifinals. The Chargers will play the winner of today’s quarter-final between third-seed Capilano University (18-6) and sixth-seed Columbia Bible College (2-22).
The fourth-seed Vancouver Island University Mariners (16-8) play the fifth-seed College of the Rockies (8-16) in the quarter-finals with the winner advancing to play the Royals in the semifinals.
The championship final is Saturday night.
Meanwhile, the defending national-champion VIU Mariners (23-1) — led by Brazilian Karoline Tormena’s league-leading 219 kills — are the top seed for the women’s Pacwest volleyball playoffs. The Chargers (16-8) — led by Mika Yamada’s 215 kills and Mychaela Roelants’ league-leading 310 digs — have won 12 consecutive games and are the third seed behind second-place Douglas College (18-6).
The Chargers meet the sixth-seed College of the Rockies (4-20) in today’s quarter-finals, while fourth-seed Fraser Valley (14-10) meets fifth-seed Capilano (8-16).
The semifinals are Friday and final Saturday.
Both the men’s and women’s Pacwest champions will advance to the Canadian college national championships in Red Deer, Alta., from March 6 to 9.
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