The College of the Rockies men?s team peaked early in exhibition play last weekend.

Hosting the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) Ooks in three matches, the Avalanche played their best in the opening contest.

They took the first two sets but wound up going to a fifth, which they lost 19-17.

?It seemed like we played pretty well and executed. (Being) in your first exhibition game of the season, you kind of feel content, that you?re going to be good and things are going well,? said head coach Steve Kamps. ?We seemed to lose our focus and energy after that.?

Kamps said that continued into the Friday evening game where they lacked passion and intensity, losing handily in three straight sets.

?It was quite painful to watch,? said Kamps. ?We have the potential, it?s just some days there?s nothing. I don?t know if they were tired from a long week of training or whatever, but it just wasn?t there.?

The Ooks completed the sweep on Saturday with a 3-1 win. After that, the Avalanche released a few athletes to get down to 14 on the roster (see below).

Kamps said the exhibition games gave him and assistant coach Steven Hammond a great chance to evaluate the athletes.

?Everybody got to play on the weekend, which was great, and everybody showed signs that they can play at this level and compete for a starting position,? said Kamps. ?It?s going to be great that we have this much depth. All season long we can go to different guys, it doesn?t really matter who?s on the floor. There were different guys stepping up at different moments.?

The Avalanche have proven to be quick on the uptake so far; they learned new blocking and defensive schemes in practice last week, and implemented them against the Ooks.

?I thought we blocked better than NAIT did all weekend, and that?s a good sign of things to come,? said Kamps. ?(The blocking system is) completely new for most of the guys, and to see us execute this early in the year is a real positive to take from the weekend.?

COTR will now ease up after an intense stretch of volleyball that included exhibition games the previous weekend against Lethbridge College in Fernie

?The guys are tired and we need to get into a regular routine here,? said Kamps. ?(Between) all the paperwork and planning and organizing and systems stuff, we?ve been spending extra time in the gym and outside the gym.

?I think the guys need to start focusing on school. They?re starting to get assignments already, and we need to get into a regular practice routine, slow things down and have a chance to look at some video from the weekend and work technically with individuals on certain things.?

B.C. Colleges? Athletic Association league play doesn?t start until the last weekend in October, leaving the Avalanche with plenty of time to work.

Avalanche men?s Roster

College of the Rockies Avalanche men?s volleyball team for 2010-11

Name, Position Hometown

Brodie Flis, setter Regina

Adam Ravenstein, setter Cranbrook

Brady Atwood, offside Jaffray

Cody Cuthill,offside Kimberley

Jordan Wagner, power Vernon

Jeremias Guenter, power Red Deer, AB

Brendan Visser, power Calgary

Dan Miedema, power Calgary

Scott Kemperman, power Cranbrook

Nick Dolman, libero Prince George

Kellan Ward, libero Okotoks, AB

Taylor Verboom, middle Radium

David Wiebe, middle Creston

Harley Marshall, middle Sparwood

Red Shirt

Zach Smith, middle Cranbrook

Head coach ? Steve Kamps

Assistant Coach – Steven Hammond