They may have lost their long time head coach, as after thirteen years at the helm, Paul Chiarenza stepped away from his leadership role, turning the position over to Ramin Sadaghiani. Playing by the mantra “Hold The Rope” a team metaphor for strength by bonnding and not letting a teammate slip, the Blues have not missed a beat to start the season kicking off the year with a 3-0 record out of the gates. The result has led to the Blue leaping four spots in the CCAA rankings from 9th to 5th, the highest ranked PacWest team.
Holding off the Quest Kermodes in a two point squeaker on opening night 62-60, the Blues then captured a 59-50 “W” in their home opener last Friday night against the Kwantlen Eagles before dropping a 29 point beating on the Columbia Bible College Bearcats the following evening.
The Blues look to defend their home court at the Capilano Sportsplex against two Island teams this weekend as the Camosun Chargers and the VIU Mariners travel across the water in attempt to knock off the only undefeated PacWest team.
Led by Hailey Bouiler‘s 15ppg and 9rebs (both currently ranking second in the CCAA leader board), the Blues feature a team which sees the majority of their roster on the floor for at least ten minutes per game. This kind of depth will only serve to help Sadaghiani’s club maintain their place among the best in the country. The same depth will also prove to be important as on Saturday evening, Bouiler fell to the hardwood with a severe knee injury, one that could see the Blues leader miss a good chunk, if not the remainder of the season.
Playing off the emtion from the loss of their floor leader, the Blues will look to veterans Jennifer Palma and Jenn Bodnar along with sharpshooters Charan Randhawa and Danica Mitchell to help pick up the scoring slack and keep the rope taught.
