For the last three matches, the College of the Rockies men have played their opponents to five sets.

With only losses to show for that — including two last weekend against the University of Fraser Valley Cascades — the familiarity is wearing thin on Avalanche middle David Wiebe.

“It’s tough to take when you’re losing close games like that. We have a hard push now to make playoffs,” he said, after accounting for 14 of his club’s points Saturday, including 10 kills.

The Avalanche lost 25-21, 14-25, 25-23, 16-25, 12-15 on Friday.

The next day, it was 15-25, 25-20, 25-21, 14-25, 8-15.

“When we did play up, the next set we think it’s easy to just walk over them again and win, but it’s not that way,” said Wiebe. “We need to understand that we have to fight for every win. Every point is valuable. For some reason, we can’t grasp that.”

Head coach Chris Jenkins doesn’t think much of COTR’s Jeckyll and Hyde tendencies either.

“As a team, we seem to have a tendency of coming out, playing hard and winning a game. Then, instead of coming out with intensity and enthusiasm and the momentum we should have off a win, we come out flat,” he said.

“It’s almost like we’ve won a game so they want to come out and play conservatively, and we can’t do that against a team like that.”

The Avalanche fell to 0-6, while the Cascades (including former COTR athletes Aaron Flanagan and Tristan Taylor) climbed past .500 to 4-3.

There are several areas the Avalanche need to work on, Jenkins noted, starting with defence.

“At the same time, we just played a good team and played them twice this weekend. We pushed them to five games both times, against big, strong, older players. We can take some positives out of it, but at the same time, boy we could have used a pair of wins this weekend.”

Matt Molenaar did his level best, having a solid Friday night with nine kills and a block.

Captain Taylor Verboom came up with seven digs that evening, just shy of Kellan Ward’s team-high nine.

Verboom finished the weekend with 18 kills, while Jordan Wagner led the way with 22.

Wiebe was a force, accounting for 24 points in a strong follow-up after being named the B.C. Colleges’ Athletic Association Player of the Week.

“I’ve only been playing volleyball for a year-and-a-half, so it feels good to me personally but I’d trade it for a win any time,” said the 6-foot-6 Creston native.

“I enjoy it. It’s recognition for the college too, not just myself.”

Jenkins said Wiebe is more than just a big player with good hops.

“He has a calming attitude,” said the coach. “He’s the floor leader. When he’s out there, people tend to take their cues from him. He’s really a force for us in more ways than just the physical side.”

The Avalanche wrap up the first semester with a one-match road trip to Castlegar this weekend. At least a couple of streaks will end there: like both COTR teams, the Selkirk Saints men and women are seeking their first match victories of the season.

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