Coach Dani Snclair鈥檚 young Vikes 鈥� who do not feature a single fifth-year player 鈥� finished 9-11 and in fifth place in the Pioneer Division, battling through ups and downs along the way. The Spartans were 8-12 and placed seventh.
The two teams meet tonight at 7 p.m. at CARSA Performance Gym, in the opener of the best-of-three play-in post-season series. Game 2 goes Saturday at 7 and, if required, Game 3 is set for a 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Victoria and Trinity Western split their season series in Langley.
The playoff games will be a first on the new Ken and Kathy Shields Court at CARSA, but the Vikes feel as if they鈥檝e been in playoff games the last few weeks.
鈥淚t is exciting to host, but our games this past weekend were essentially playoff games,鈥� said Sinclair, whose team used a sweep of Brandon and some help from UBC to secure the host spot. 鈥淥ur games against Brandon hopefully give us a sense for what to expect and in some ways got the rust and nerves out. Hosting in CARSA will be exciting though, especially for the larger UVic and Victoria community.鈥�
Earlier this season, the Vikes lost 78-70 in overtime, but bounced back for a 77-52 win over Trinity Western.
鈥淭hey are a hard-working, up-tempo and smart team who haven鈥檛 qualified for the playoffs since 2009,鈥� said Sinclair. 鈥淭hey really have earned this and have had a really good season. They will be an extremely tough team and we will have to just focus on this series one game at a time.
鈥淭he key is going to be our defence,鈥� she stressed. 鈥淲hen we鈥檝e been good on defence, we have been successful. In that Friday loss to Trinity Western, we gave up too many points and post touches.鈥�
Tessa Ratzlaff recorded 31 points for the Spartans in that overtime win over Victoria, so the second-year athlete should grab some of the Vikes鈥� attention. Third-year Kayla Gordon and second-year Jessie Brown are also key components for Trinity Western.
The Vikes counter with Hamilton products Jenna Bugiardini and Amira Giannattasio and veterans Nicole Karstein and Jenn Krug. They are also getting more valuable minutes from freshmen Brittani Yee and Marissa Dheensaw.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 get ahead of ourselves,鈥� said Sinclair. 鈥淲e have to treat it like any other two-game weekend, focus on the first game and take it one game at a time.鈥�
Should they advance to quarter-finals, the Vikes would travel to Edmonton the following weekend to face MacEwan University in a best-of-three series.
