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UFV Sports Saturday – Women’s Volleyball – Mariners Sweep, Hoops, Wrestling

Womens Volleyball ( Jordie Arthur, Cascades communications assistant ): Unbeaten Mariners wrap up weekend sweep of Cascades

The University of the Fraser Valley women’s volleyball team dropped a second straight three-set decision to the Vancouver Island University Mariners on Saturday afternoon in Nanaimo. 

The CCAA No. 1-ranked Mariners continued their strong play from the night before, posting set victories of 25-18, 25-10 and 25-20 to take the match over the No. 9 Cascades.

VIU boosted its PACWEST-leading record to 20-0, while fourth-place UFV fell to 11-7.

“There’s a lot we can learn from a game like today,” Cascades head coach Mike Gilray noted. “We can be upset about losing, but if we don’t take the opportunity to learn when a team of that calibre shows us our mistakes, then it’s a wasted weekend.

“There is stuff for us to take from this weekend to help us get better for the rest of the semester.”

VIU grabbed a 13-7 lead off of an eight-serve run by Danielle Groendijk, on their way to a 25-18 first-set victory.

The Mariners took control in the second, as they jumped out to a 6-0 lead on Karoline Tormena’s service and extended their lead through a six-point service run from Groendijk before closing it out 25-10.

The Cascades kept the third close, but VIU proved to be too much, prevailing 25-20. 

Cassidy King led the Cascades defensively with 11 digs, while Kim Bauder had seven kills and seven digs. Lauren Poirier also had a strong game in the middle, posting four kills on nine swings. 

Groenendijk had a team-high 11 kills for the Mariners, while Tormena and Taylor Wickson both had eight.

It was tough for the Cascades to get rolling this weekend as they were missing their influential left side Amanda Matsui, who was sidelined due to injury. 

“It is hard to replace a girl that’s up for player of the year,” Gilray noted. “But I don’t think we need excuses, I think we just need other people to step up. It’s an opportunity for others to push for starting time.”

The Cascades volleyball teams are on the road again next weekend, facing the Capilano Blues in a Friday-Saturday set in North Vancouver.

Men’s Volleyball (with files from Jordie Arthur, Cascades communications assistant ): Cascades drop three-set decision to Mariners

The University of the Fraser Valley men’s volleyball team fell in three sets to the Vancouver Island University Mariners on Saturday afternoon in Nanaimo. 

A back-and-forth opening set saw the Mariners build a 23-20 lead, and despite a late push from the Cascades, VIU held on to secure it 26-24. 

VIU carried that momentum into the second, as they leapt out to an early 9-3 lead and rolled to a 25-15 win. 

The Mariners once again started strong in the third, gaining an 11-3 lead off of a six-serve run by Keal Prince. UFV chipped away at the deficit, drawing to within 22-20, but that was as close as they would get as VIU sealed the match 25-22.

The Mariners boosted their record to 13-7, while the Cascades fell to 1-17.

Afterward, UFV head coach Kyle Donen noted that while the final score wasn’t as close as the previous night’s five-set loss, they showed resiliency on Saturday despite struggling with their passing.

“I still thought our fight was good,” Donen analyzed. “I thought our passing fell off the tracks a little bit, and it was tough to recover. But we never quit. We didn’t stop, we didn’t fold the tent. We battled to the bitter end, which was good to see. We just, unfortunately, hit a bad stretch where our passing kind of burned us.

“We’ve just got to keep at it. I think the energy on the court was really good. Even when we were losing, we never felt like we were out of it. We’ll continue to find ways to add to our game.”

Graeme Hughes and Jackson Obst paced the Cascades with four kills apiece, and Ben Friesen posted 11 digs.

VIU middle Adam Kapteyn’s 12 kills were a game-high.

The Cascades volleyball teams are on the road again next weekend, facing the Capilano Blues in a Friday-Saturday set in North Vancouver.

Women’s Basketball: Dinos outlast Cascades in rugged defensive battle

The Calgary Dinos got the best of the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades in a relentlessly rugged defensive battle on Saturday evening, grinding out a 61-40 win at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre.

The Dinos unleashed their full-court press for the vast majority of 40 minutes, forcing 26 Cascades turnovers and limiting the hosts to 27.7 per cent shooting from the field.

UFV also did a job at the defensive end, holding Calgary to 39.7 per cent from the field while winning the battle of the boards by a 40-33 count.

But the U SPORTS No. 7-ranked Dinos pulled away in the fourth quarter to improve to 15-3 in Canada West play, dropping the Cascades to 10-8.

“Physically, I thought we met the challenge, and defensively we were solid,” UFV head coach Al Tuchscherer said. “We made it tough for them to score. But the other side of the court was a big challenge tonight.

“We were playing a team that really is relentless in their pressure and their defence, and made us initiate offence in places we really didn’t want to. We’ve got to get back in the gym and work on it.”

Saturday’s game followed much the same script as Friday’s 81-56 Calgary win, as for the second straight night, the hosts got off to a bright start. UFV built an early 9-4 lead, capped by Kate Head’s layup. But the Dinos’ defence found traction at that point, holding the Cascades off the scoreboard for a seven-minute stretch bridging the first and second quarters, and grabbing a 13-9 advantage.

Calgary’s lead was 21-17 at the end of an intensely physical first half, and UFV remained within striking distance until midway through the fourth quarter, as the Dinos pulled away. Liene Stalidzane led the way with eight points in the final frame.

“I thought I was going to have to give some refunds to the spectators at halftime,” Calgary head coach Damian Jennings said with a chuckle, alluding to the low numbers on the scoreboard (21-17) at the break. “It was a tough, physical weekend. Great respect to the way Al and Fraser Valley go about their business. We’ve always enjoyed very tough games here.

“I thought Al and the (UFV) team did a wonderful job between Game 1 and Game 2, stifling us a little bit with a matchup zone at the beginning of the game. Ultimately, we didn’t shoot the ball well, we didn’t make good decisions, we were very stale and static with it. What I did like was, we found a way in. We found some seams in that zone, and were able to find some (personnel) combinations that worked.”

Taylor Claggett paced the Cascades with 11 points to go with seven rebounds and three assists, and Amanda Thompson scored 10.

Stalidzane posted a game-high 16 points for the Dinos, and Erin McIntosh scored 15.

The Cascades basketball teams wrap up the Canada West regular season with a home-and-home series with the Trinity Western Spartans – Friday at the EFAC (women 6 p.m., men 8 p.m.), and Saturday at the Langley Events Centre (women 5 p.m., men 7 p.m.).

Men’s Basketball: Third-quarter surge powers Dinos past Cascades

The third quarter was the difference as the Calgary Dinos earned a 69-59 win over the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades in Canada West men’s basketball action on Saturday evening.

One night after being on the wrong end of an 85-51 blowout, the Cascades turned in a much stronger performance against the reigning U SPORTS national champs. The hosts raced out to a 14-6 lead to open the game, and were within 35-29 at the half.

The third quarter, though, was all Dinos. The outscored UFV 20-6 in the frame, limiting the Cascades to 2-of-16 shooting from the field.

UFV made a fourth-quarter push, but Calgary hit timely shots to improve to 18-0 while dropping the Cascades to 11-7.

“We competed harder and smarter for much longer periods of the game,” UFV head coach Adam Friesen said, analyzing his team’s much-improved performance on Saturday. “Calgary is the highest-level team in Canada West by it looks like a pretty reasonable margin, and you can’t practice against the athletes that they have. Sometimes it takes a game to understand the quickness and length that’s on the court.”

The Cascades’ opening salvo was highlighted by back-to-back-to-back three-pointers, with a pair of triples from Parm Bains bookending a Sukhman Sandhu long-distance call.

But the Dinos hung in thanks in large part to fifth-year guard Lucas Mannes. The Chilliwack, B.C. product scored all of his game-high 18 points in the first half, hitting four treys in the second quarter alone to help his team grab a 35-29 edge at the break.

The visitors took control in the third, with point guard David Kapinga scoring eight straight Calgary points to push the lead to 53-35.

A poster-worthy dunk by Daniel Adediran over Dinos centre Brett Layton, followed by a steal-and-dunk from Vick Toor on the ensuing possession, fired up the home fans midway through the fourth quarter, but the Cascades were unable to get any closer than the final 10-point margin.

Parm Bains paced the Cascades with 14 points, Toor scored 10, and Sandhu had nine points off the bench. Mark Johnson posted double-digit rebounds for the second straight night, with 11.

“We can be confident in our ability to defend and rebound with any team in our conference,” Friesen said, reflecting on what his team can take away from the weekend. “And I think we have a better understanding of the importance of playing physically tough, but also mentally tough and disciplined as well.”

Kapinga, Mambi Diawara and Lars Schleuter, all with 10 points, joined Mannes as double-digit scorers for the Dinos, and Layton contributed 13 rebounds.

“Our movement was better on offence, but for the most part, we were much more solid on D,” Dinos head coach Dan Vanhooren said, reflecting on his team’s third-quarter performance. “We did a much better job in the third quarter than we did the rest of the game. We gave up a bunch of three-balls in the fourth quarter and kind of lost ourselves when we got up a bit.

“But the game was a different story (than Friday’s opener). They competed harder tonight, they battled a little more for every 50-50 ball, and that’s usually the case the second night you play somebody. They have a very nice basketball team, and there’s a lot of positives there with Fraser Valley’s group.”

The Cascades basketball teams wrap up the Canada West regular season with a home-and-home series with the Trinity Western Spartans – Friday at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre (women 6 p.m., men 8 p.m.), and Saturday at the Langley Events Centre (women 5 p.m., men 7 p.m.).

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