Week 14 Schedule Updates

NANAIMO - The PACWEST schedule in Week 14 of the regular season includes a number of postponements and game time changes across three sports.

Women's Basketball (8-0) vs Langara Falcons (2-8) - postponed

Both of the women's basketball matchups versus Langara in Vancouver have been postponed. A makeup date has not yet been scheduled.

The women have not competed since November 27, a 94-48 win over the CBC Bearcats. VIU, in first place in the conference, will hope to get back on the court on Saturday, January 22 versus the Capilano Blues (5-3), pending any rescheduled matches before that date.

Stats highlight: fifth-year guard Amber Lease leads the conference in assists (48), assists per game (6), steals (32), and steals per game (4).

Men's Basketball (7-0) vs Langara Falcons (6-3)

Fresh off a 91-68 win over the CBC Bearcats on January 8, the first-place Mariners hit the road for a weekend set against the Falcons in Vancouver (January 14/15).

The Falcons and Mariners battled at VIU back in November, with the Mariners coming out on top with a 105-84 win. Akoi Yuot led the offensive charge with a game-high 27 points.

Because of the postponements of the women's games, tip-off for the men's matchups have been moved up. Friday's game starts at 6 PM while Saturday's matchup will begin at 1 PM.

Stats highlight: Yuot holds down the second spot in the conference in points-per-game (20.67), behind only Omon Edobar (29.5) of the Okanagan Coyotes. 

Women's Volleyball (5-2) vs Camonsun Chargers (3-4) & College of the Rockies Avalanche (2-3)

It's a mixed bag for VIU women's volleyball this weekend. The Friday, January 14 matchup with Camosun in Victoria has been postponed, but the Sunday, January 16 home game with the COTR Avalanche is scheduled to go ahead. Sunday's start time is scheduled for 4 PM.

The Mariners, taking to the court for the first time since a 3-0 sweep of Capilano on December 3rd, sit in second place in the PACWEST. The fifth-place Avalanche have only played three games so far in the 2021-22 regular season: all losses to the Douglas Royals. Their two wins were awarded by default over Capilano, but the Avs will look to earn their first on-court win versus Camosun on Saturday before venturing up-Island to play VIU.

Stats highlight: Yevgenia Lytvynenko shows up all over the PACWEST leaderboard: 2nd in kills per set (3.74); 8th in blocks per set (0.37); 7th in aces per set (0.44); 10th in digs per set (2.04); and 1st in total offense.

Men's Volleyball (4-3) vs Camosun Chargers (3-4) & College of the Rockies Avalanche (3-2)

The 2022 portion of the regular season kicks off for VIU MVB on Friday, January 14 with an Island Rivalry matchup down the Malahat in Victoria.

The Mariners and Chargers kicked off the regular season in November with a pair of five-set comeback thrillers--one victory for each team.

The weekend concludes with a rare Sunday evening matchup as the Mariners host the Avalanche at the VIU Gym (6 PM). The visitors from Cranbrook will be playing their fourth game of the season--two of their wins were awarded by forfeit--and have yet to play a home game.

Stats highlight: eight of the top ten blockers in the conference (based on blocks per set) will be in action in the VIU, Camosun, and COTR matchups. VIU's Daniel Mascarenhas and Adam Kapteyn are second and third in the PACWEST, while the top-ten also includes Nate McLennan and KeAndre Evans from COTR and Eduardo Bida, Dale MacDonell, Vitor Pereira, and Kyle Butterworth from Camosun. 

Men's Hockey (3-3 BCIHL) vs Powell River Regals (exhibition) - cancelled

Out of caution for the health of the players and staff, men's hockey announced that this Saturday's scheduled exhibition matchup with Powell River at the Nanaimo Ice Centre has been cancelled. 

The next scheduled game for the Mariners is Saturday, January 22nd, when VIU hosts UVic at the Nanaimo Ice Centre (7:15 PM).

Stats highlight: forward Gavin Rauser has ten points (four goals, six assists) in only five games and is only one point behind the league leader, Garrett Hilton of SFU. 

Reminder to Fans

Regarding the game postponements: the PACWEST is taking COVID-19 safety precautions to ensure the health and well-being of our student-athletes, coaches, staff and officials. We appreciate your patience, understanding and continued support.

At this time, spectators are not permitted to be in attendance at PACWEST games. All conference games can be viewed live online at PACWEST.LIVE.