A trip to the CIS Canada West Final Four women's volleyball tournament will be on the line beginning tonight at UBC Okanagan gymnasium.
The fourth place UBCO Heat (15-7) will play host the fifth-place Mount Royal Cougars (14-8), with the opening serve being delivered at 6 p.m.
Ranked No. 9 and 10 respectively, the Heat and Royals will play a best-of-three series for the right to advance to the Final Four scheduled for the University of B.C.'s War Memorial gym Feb. 21-23. The top three teams in that playoff tournament will represent Canada West at the CIS championship tournament in Sherbrooke, Que., Feb. 28-March 2.
The second match of the UBCO-Mount Royal quarter-final series is set for Friday at 6 p.m., while a third match, if necessary, would go on Saturday afternoon (time to be announced).
In their pair of matches in Calgary this season, the two teams split, with the Heat taking the first 3-1 and losing the second 3-2.
The UBC Thunderbirds earned a bye in the first round of the playoffs by finishing first with a 21-1 record. Meanwhile, other playoff action this week will see the second-place Trinity Western Spartans playing the University of Calgary and the third place Alberta Pandas host the Manitoba Bisons in best-of-three series.

Martin bounces back with 68 on Gateway

Six birdies propelled Keith Martin to a 4-under-par 68 and into the final round of his first Gateway Pro Tour event in Arizona on Wednesday.
The Kelowna golfer rebounded from an opening-round 75 by shooting 33 on the front nine and 35 on the back of the 7,247-yard layout at the Anthem Golf and Country Club near Phoenix.
Martin, 23, carded three straight birdies after a par on the first hole. He shaved another stroke from par on the seventh hole and added birds on the 10th and par-5 18th.
His 36-hole score of 143 is seven strokes off the pace set by the co-leaders of the 106-man field. Drew Scott of Nevada and Nathaniel McCoy of Iowa are tied at 136 going into the final round of the 54-hole event.

OKM's Grade 8 boys win volleyball tourney

Utilizing their size and skill, the host Okanagan Mission Huskies won the first Central Okanagan Grade 8 boys volleyball tournament of the season.
The Huskies capped a 6-0 weekend by defeating the Dr. Knox Falcons 25-22, 23-25, 15-12 in the final match.
Deadlocked at 11-11 in the third set of the final, OKM pulled away with a couple of clutch plays by Ben McDonald and Taylor Knoll to claim the tournament title.
Other members of the team, coached by Paul Thiessen and Ashlee Davison, are Mason Rowson, Owen Partrick, Brian Robb and Kamen Wimbleton.
Coach Thiessen is pleased with the early success of the team.
"This team has better size than our senior team (fourth at the 2A provincial tournament in 2012) at this age and the skill level and volleyball IQ appears to be higher," said Thiessen. "Things look promising for this young squad."

Immaculata garners junior basketball title

The Immaculata Mustangs scored a 56-30 win over the Dr. Knox Falcons to capture the Central Okanagan junior B girls basketball league title this week.
Amanda Grant scored 18 points and added six rebounds and three steals in the championship victory. Ashlyn Day pitched in with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Stephanie McCann had 12 points, six steals and four assists. Nicole Hart led the team with eight blocked shots and added 10 rebounds to go along with her eight points.
The Mustangs will join the host Falcons, the KLO Cougars and Heritage Christian Saints at the Valley's six-team Grade 9 championship tournament Feb. 22 and 23 at Knox.