Men’s Volleyball: Cascades edge Chargers in five-set thriller
The University of the Fraser Valley men’s volleyball team wrung every last drop of drama out of Friday night’s road clash with the Camosun Chargers, ultimately prevailing in five sets.
Each of the three sets won by the Cascades came by the minimum two points, highlighted by an 18-16 victory in the fifth and deciding set. In the end, it was UFV (9-6) tightening its grip on third place in the PACWEST, while the fourth-place Chargers fell to 5-8.
The two teams wrap up the weekend set Saturday afternoon (3 p.m., pacwestbc.tv).
“I think the best way to describe it is, we found ways to bounce back when we needed it,” Cascades head coach Kyle Donen said. “It’s a huge win for us to be able to find a way to grind out another win on the road.”
The Chargers came out on fire in the first set, taking it in decisive fashion (25-18), and they had the Cascades on the ropes in the second, leading 24-21. But the UFV squad fended off three set points and rallied for a 28-26 win. They built on that in the third, taking it 25-23, but Camosun dominated the fourth 25-15 to extend the match.
In the fifth, the Chargers were on the brink of victory, leading 14-12. But the Cascades staved off two match points thanks to a Camosun net violation followed by a hitting error, and they scored four of the next six points to seal the win.
Reigning PACWEST men’s volleyball player of the week Nick Bruce racked up a team-best 19 kills and three blocks, and fellow left side Ben Friesen (13 kills) and middle Dayton Pagliericci (nine kills) also chipped in offensively. Setter Adam Frederickson had 43 set assists to go with four kills and two blocks, and middle Josh Fefchak registered a team-high four blocks.
“I don’t think we had the greatest start to the match, but we found our groove,” Donen said. “To steal that second set gave us momentum in the third. We were not good in the fourth set, but I thought we responded well in the fifth. They were ahead and in control for most of that fifth set, but we earned some big points and we found an advantage.”
Women’s Volleyball: Cascades keep Chargers at bay, win in four sets
Big games from their left-side duo of Amanda Matsui and Kim Bauder sparked the University of the Fraser Valley women’s volleyball team to a four-set victory over the Camosun Chargers in Victoria on Friday evening.
Rookie Matsui (16 kills, 15 digs) and fourth-year captain Bauder (13 kills, 22 digs) both stuffed the stat sheet as the CCAA No. 7-ranked Cascades (9-6) denied the Chargers (0-13) their first win of the PACWEST regular season.
The Cascades trailed for much of the first set before rallying for a 25-22 win, and they followed with a clinical second-set triumph by a 25-17 score. The Chargers extended the match with a 25-18 win in the third, and the Cascades had to be clutch in the late stages of the fourth to seal a 26-24 victory.
Camosun gets another crack at UFV at home on Saturday afternoon (1 p.m., pacwestbc.tv).
“This Camosun team is feisty, and they were hungry for a win,” UFV head coach Mike Gilray said afterward. “In the first set, we weren’t recycling and allowing them to make errors. We did a better job of that in the second game – we played the ball into weaker areas to put them in tougher spots.”
In the pivotal fourth set, the Cascades trailed 24-23 but were able to fend off the Chargers’ set point when right side Chelsea Kidd came up with a huge stuff block to knot the score. She served the final two points, with Bauder notching consecutive kills to end the match.
First-year setter Olivia Heinen set the table for Matsui and Bauder’s big offensive nights, racking up 49 set assists. Matsui and Bauder were among four players with double-digit digs, libero Cassidy King (13) and Heinen (12) being the others.
Kidd, who came in off the bench in the fourth set, was selected as player of the game by her teammates for her clutch plays in the late stages.
Men’s Basketball: WolfPack fend off Cascades’ comeback, prevail 77-71
A stirring fourth-quarter comeback came up short for the University of the Fraser Valley men’s basketball team, as the Thompson Rivers WolfPack hung on for a 77-71 win on Friday evening in Kamloops.
The Cascades (5-10) trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half, but got the deficit down to three with four minutes left in regulation. The host WolfPack (8-7), though, fended them off down the stretch to extend their win streak to six.
The two teams lock horns again on Saturday in Kamloops (7 p.m., CanadaWest.tv).
“We played hard for a large portion of the game, but playing smart and playing disciplined is something we’ve had trouble doing for long stretches,” Cascades head coach Adam Friesen said. “We struggled with that especially in the second quarter.”
Both teams shot the ball efficiently during the first quarter, which ended with the WolfPack leading 27-24. The hosts seized control in the second behind some red-hot shooting from Derek Rhodes off the bench – he scored 10 points in the frame as TRU stretched its advantage to 47-34 at the break.
The Cascades opened the third quarter on a 13-4 run, capped by an Andrew Morris and-one layup, to cut the WolfPack cushion to 51-46. TRU pushed the lead back to 10 early in the fourth, but Parvir Bains sparked a comeback, swishing a trio of triples in quick succession. Vick Toor capped the surge with a tough driving layup, drawing UFV back to within 67-64 with just over four minutes left. But the WolfPack came up with some key defensive stops down the stretch, and got to the foul line to finish the game off.
“I’m happy about the way the guys rebounded after a disappointing first half, but we’ve got to learn to play to our strengths and not be our own worst enemy at times,” Friesen said. “As a young team, you expect that, and we need to get better at that aspect of the game.”
Rookie point guard Toor paced the Cascades with 17 points and six assists, and centre Matt Cooley scored a season-high 16 points to go with eight rebounds. Morris (14 points) and Bains (11) also scored in double figures for UFV.
For the WolfPack, Rhodes scored 19 of his game-high 21 points in the first half, while Joe Davis (17 points, 11 rebounds) and Mike Roualt (11 points, 14 rebounds) both notched double-doubles. TRU out-rebounded the Cascades 41-31.
Women’s Basketball: Claggett, Cascades claw out road win over WolfPack
The University of the Fraser Valley women’s basketball team picked up a massive road victory on Friday evening, defeating the Thompson Rivers WolfPack 59-53 in Kamloops.
Taylor Claggett had a huge night for the Cascades, racking up 17 points and 16 rebounds – both game-high totals – as UFV snapped a four-game losing streak and improved to 5-10 in Canada West play. The host WolfPack fell to 7-8.
The two teams renew hostilities on Saturday evening in Kamloops (5 p.m., CanadaWest.tv).
“The girls played together and had a little bit of faith in each other, which we haven’t always played with this season,” Cascades head coach Al Tuchscherer analyzed afterward. “We had a couple players step up who don’t normally give us that sort of production, so it was good to see.”
The Cascades got off to a less-than-promising start – the WolfPack raced out to a double-digit advantage behind some gritty work on the offensive glass and led 21-9 at the end of the first quarter.
UFV point guard Kate Head sparked a rally to open the second. She stole the ball on back-to-back TRU possessions and turned up-court to set up fast-break layups for teammates Shayna Litman and Sara Simovic. Head capped a 13-1 run with a runner in the lane, knotting the score 22-22. The WolfPack, though, found some traction and took a 30-26 lead into the break.
The Cascades opened the third quarter on a 9-2 run, taking their first lead of the night on a Litman jump shot. Later in the frame, five straight points from Jessica Zawada gave UFV a 40-37 lead heading to the fourth.
The hosts scored seven straight points to open the fourth, capped by a Jordon Haggerty three-pointer, to surge ahead 44-40. But Zawada answered with a trey of her own to ignite a 13-2 run as UFV seized control of the proceedings. Head’s triple with just over two minutes left in regulation was the dagger, putting the Cascades up 58-49.
The Cascades’ defence came up big, limiting the WolfPack to 23.8 per cent shooting from the field. But once the ball came off the rim, UFV had a tough time – TRU reeled in an eye-popping 22 offensive boards, which kept them in the game despite their shooting struggles.
Simovic chipped in with 12 points and eight rebounds for the Cascades, while Head and Zawada notched 10 points apiece. Head’s contributions were pivotal – in addition to scoring in high-leverage moments, the sophomore from Maple Ridge, B.C. also contributed five rebounds and five assists.
Haggerty and Emily Vilac, with 10 points apiece, paced the WolfPack offence.
“I thought Kate was fantastic tonight,” Tuchscherer said. “She was more aggressive seeking out her offence, and defensively she was a difference-maker as well. It was good to see. Obviously JZ (Zawada) hit some big shots for us, and Taylor played with a lot of desire and passion tonight. You could tell she really wanted that win.”
