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UFV Sports Saturday – Women’s Volleyball, Hoops, Soccer

Women’s Volleyball: Matsui paces Cascades to second straight win over Avalanche

The University of the Fraser Valley women’s volleyball team wrapped up a weekend sweep of the College of the Rockies Avalanche in dominant fashion, prevailing in three sets on Saturday afternoon in Cranbrook.

On the heels of Friday’s four-set triumph, the Cascades won by scores of 25-16, 25-21 and 25-12 in the rematch to square their record at 2-2 in PACWEST play. The Avalanche fell to 1-5.

Amanda Matsui spearheaded the offence – she was the lone player on either side of the net to crack double-figure kills with 12. Kim Bauder and Lauren Poirier chipped in with six kills apiece, and setter Kara Williams’s 29 assists was a telling measure of the offence’s efficiency. Matsui added 14 digs, and libero Karissa Marazzi and Williams had 11 digs apiece.

Cascades head coach Mike Gilray noted that while his team had some issues with errors in the second set – COTR’s first seven points of the frame were due to UFV miscues – they were relatively clean in the first and third.

“We cleaned up our side and really put some pressure on them . . . and Amanda had a really good third game,” Gilray said. “Our passing was good both games this weekend, so that was nice. Still too many service errors, but we did well offensively.”

The Cascades volleyball teams are on the road once again next weekend, heading to Victoria to visit the Camosun Chargers. Games run Friday (women 6 p.m., men 8 p.m.) and Saturday (women 1 p.m., men 3 p.m.), and will be webcast at pacwestbc.tv.

Men’s Volleyball: Cascades suffer five-set heartbreak to Avalanche for second straight day

The University of the Fraser Valley men’s volleyball team was dealt a second consecutive five-set defeat on the road Saturday afternoon, falling to the College of the Rockies Avalanche in Cranbrook.

The Avalanche won the weekend series opener in five on Friday, and reprised that result in the rematch by scores of 22-25, 25-20, 18-25, 25-16 and 20-18.

The Cascades made a stirring comeback in the fifth. After trailing 14-11, they staved off three match points to extend the set, tying it 14-14 on a block by Graeme Hughes, and would surge ahead 17-16 to earn a match-point opportunity of their own. But the Avalanche responded – Caleb Peters notched a kill and a service ace to give COTR the lead right back, and they went on to seal the victory on a kill from Breno Fabbri.

The Cascades fell to 0-4, while the Avalanche are 2-4.

“We just weren’t consistent enough,” Cascades head coach Kyle Donen analyzed. “We started slow in the fifth, managed to climb back into it and had our chance to win, but just didn’t capitalize.

“It’s been a little bit of a grind this weekend, but we’ve done some good things – we just haven’t done them on a consistent basis. Different guys have been coming in and playing well, we just haven’t been able to put a whole match together.”

Ben Friesen shouldered a huge workload for the Cascades, taking 48 swings on his way to a team-high 17 kills. Matt Whittall had 11 kills, and Justin Peleshytyk had eight kills and tied Hughes for team-high honours with three blocks. Libero Carter Bronson had 12 digs, and setter Adam Frederickson had 25 assists.

Peters, with 22 kills, paced the Avs’ attack.

The Cascades volleyball teams are on the road once again next weekend, heading to Victoria to visit the Camosun Chargers. Games run Friday (women 6 p.m., men 8 p.m.) and Saturday (women 1 p.m., men 3 p.m.), and will be webcast at pacwestbc.tv.

Women’s Basketball: Vikes top Cascades in preseason finale

The University of the Fraser Valley women’s basketball squad wrapped up its preseason preparations with a 75-63 loss to the Victoria Vikes at the Hoopfest Invitational Tournament, hosted by the Alberta Pandas.

The Cascades were shorthanded on Saturday, as Kate Head, Katelyn Mallette, Jessica Zawada and Elissa Vreugdenhil were unavailable due to injury.

“It was a good opportunity for some of our players to get some good minutes that haven’t had too many so far – some great experiences for them,” noted Cascades head coach Al Tuchscherer, whose team was coming off a 71-64 loss to Lethbridge in their tourney opener Friday. “We ran out of gas a little bit towards the end of the game . . . important lessons along the way this weekend.”

After trailing by as many as 13 points in the third quarter, the Cascades trimmed the deficit to five on a Taylor Claggett layup late in the frame to make it 52-47. The Vikes, though, reeled off a 7-0 run early in the fourth to stretch the lead back to double digits, and they kept UFV at arm’s length the rest of the way.

Claggett paced the Cascades with a game-high 24 points to go with four assists, and Amanda Thompson counted a trio of three-pointers among her 11 points and added six assists.

With all of UFV’s injury absences, Abby Zawada and Natalie Rathler stepped into the starting lineup, and registered seven and six points, respectively. Alexis Worrell, Veronica Kobes and Madeline Beerwald also took on extra minutes off the bench, and Kobes had a particularly strong outing with six points and five assists.

The Vikes had five players in double figures, led by Calli McMillan with 16.

The UFV squad is gearing up for the opening weekend of Canada West conference play, Oct. 26-27 at home vs. Thompson Rivers. Games run next Friday (women 6 p.m., men 8 p.m.) and Saturday (women 5 p.m., men 7 p.m.) at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre.

Women’s Soccer: Silbernagel’s strikes spark Cascades’ comeback in 2-2 tie at UBC

Mackenzie Silbernagel led the University of the Fraser Valley women’s soccer team on a stirring second-half comeback on Saturday evening, as the Cascades earned a 2-2 draw on the road at UBC.

The host Thunderbirds opened a 2-0 lead on goals from Danielle Steer and Alyssa Hunt, but the UFV side got a pair of goals from rookie forward Silbernagel to pick up a point against the nation’s No. 4-ranked team.

It was the Canada West finale for both teams – UBC (10-3-1) locks up second place in the Pacific Division and a first-round playoff bye, while UFV (5-5-4) finishes fifth in the Pacific and will meet the Mount Royal Cougars in their post-season opener.

Afterward, Cascades head coach Rob Giesbrecht noted that his team managed four points on the tough UVic-UBC road swing, having knocked off UVic 2-0 on Friday.

“We played these two teams in the first week of the year, and we lost 5-1 (to the Vikes) and 4-1 (to the T-Birds),” he noted. “It’s really exciting what lies ahead for us.”

With their playoff spot already secured, the Cascades played without captain Brittney Zacharuk and centre back Taylor Nekic – one more regular-season yellow card for either would result in a one-game suspension that would be served in their playoff opener.

The T-Birds, requiring at least a draw to hold off the MacEwan Griffins for second in the Pacific, were the better team in the first half, and opened the scoring in the 22nd minute on a goal by Steer. It was Steer’s 10th of the campaign, moving her one ahead of Zacharuk in the Canada West goal-scoring race. Hunt made it 2-0 in the 50th minute, with Rachel Jones notching an assist.

Silbernagel went to work at that point. In the 56th, the Chilliwack, B.C. product converted off a Harneet Dadrao corner to get the Cascades on the board. Then, in the 74th, Jashan Sandhar got behind the UBC defence and was hauled down in the box by T-Birds keeper Emily Moore. Silbernagel stepped to the penalty spot and banged it in.

“Three goals for her this season, and her goals-to-minutes ratio must lead Canada West,” Giesbrecht said of Silbernagel, who has seen action in just five of UFV’s 14 games. “She has a bright future. She struggled this year with different injuries and illness, and it’s been great to see her get back into the team. We see this (scoring touch) in training, and her soccer IQ is among the best on our team.”

Dadrao had a great look in the 90th minute when the ball fell to her at the top of the box, but her shot was right at Moore.

“We weren’t our usual selves in the first half, so I challenged our girls to be the kind of team we’d been in the second half of the season – being brave on the ball and being very tough to play against,” Giesbrecht said. “In the second half tonight, we were a lot tougher to play against. We just competed more.”

Men’s Soccer: Cascades score tying goal late, fend off T-Wolves for third in Pacific

For the second straight night, the University of the Fraser Valley men’s soccer team mustered a dramatic goal in second-half injury time to secure a crucial result against the UNBC Timberwolves.

On Friday, Andrew Peat’s added-time header sent the host Cascades to a 1-0 win over the T-Wolves while simultaneously clinching a playoff berth. On Saturday, it was a Gurmaan Jhaj penalty kick in the dying minutes that sealed a 2-2 draw at MRC Sports Complex, locking up the No. 3 seed in the Pacific Division for UFV (7-6-2).

“It was a battle for 90 minutes, and to show that belief and show that desire, and willingness to do anything to get the ball in the back of the net is just fantastic to see,” UFV head coach Tom Lowndes enthused. “As a coach, there’s nothing that makes you prouder. They’re willing to run through a brick wall for each other.”

A win for the T-Wolves (5-4-6) would have punched their playoff ticket while leapfrogging UFV for third place in the Pacific; as it stands, UNBC now has to sweat Sunday’s game between the Thompson Rivers WolfPack and UBC Thunderbirds. TRU (5-6-3) can draw level with UNBC for the fourth and final Pacific playoff berth with a win over the undefeated T-Birds (13-0-2), and they own the head-to-head tiebreaker.

“Full credit to TRU – we’ve been watching their games, and they’ve been great,” T-Wolves head coach Steve Simonson said. “Obviously we’re going to be UBC’s biggest fans tomorrow and hope they’ll finish up their undefeated season the right way for us. If they do, we’ll take our fourth place and we’ll have felt like we earned it over time, because we’ve had a good year.”

The T-Wolves were sharp early on and had the bulk of possession over the first 25 minutes, but it was the Cascades who opened the scoring. David Parfett did the honours – he took a pass from Peat in the midfield and made his way to the top of the penalty area, where he unleashed a right-footed strike that found its way inside the right post.

UNBC drew even in the 38th minute. Francesco Bartolillo sent a ball through to an onrushing Matt Jubinville, and he caught up to it at the same time as Cascades keeper Alex Skrzeta did coming from the opposite direction. Neither player was able to secure the ball in the scramble, but Anthony Preston was johnny-on-the-spot to clean up the loose ball.

The T-Wolves grabbed their first lead in the 61st minute after Cascades captain Tammer Byrne was whistled for a foul in the box. Bartolillo stepped up and sent his penalty kick into the right side of the goal; Skrzeta was leaning the other way.

The Cascades mounted a furious push over the final half-hour of play, but UNBC keeper Rob Goodey kept them at bay. In the 66th, UFV’s Jun Won Choi was tripped up in the box, and Jhaj stepped to the penalty spot. But Goodey dove to his left and got his hands on Jhaj’s low drive – a stunning stop.

Jhaj, though, got a chance at redemption in injury time after the T-Wolves were whistled for a hand ball in the box. The fourth-year forward tried the other side of the goal this time, and though Goodey dove the right way, he was unable to get his hands on it.

“That’s what leaders do,” Lowndes said of Jhaj, who extended his team record with his 13th goal of the season. “They take responsibility, and when something bad happens, they don’t shirk that responsibility – they go up and take it again.

“For him to step up after missing a penalty says a lot about his character, and I’m really proud of him.”

Though the T-Wolves fell short of their desired result, Simonson could find no fault in his team’s effort.

“UNBC was two minutes away from a third-place finish in the Pacific, and that’s quite an accomplishment,” he said. “For these boys and how far they’ve come, I’m so proud of them, I really am.

“It was a great performance from us today – I thought it was fantastic. We knew they were going to come at us at the end. To be undone on a penalty call, that’s tough. But we’ve got to respect the referee’s decision and go on from there.”

THROW-INS: The Cascades honoured a trio of graduating fifth-year players – Skrzeta, Byrne and goalkeeper David Hicks – in a pregame Senior Night ceremony marking their final home games for UFV. . . . Byrne suited up for his 69th career Canada West game – a Cascades record, and one game shy of the conference record of 70, held jointly by Saskatchewan’s Jerson Barandica-Hamilton and Lethbridge’s Lucas Rajcic.

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