Langley (Dan Kinvig) -At long last, the University of the Fraser Valley women’s volleyball team got a taste of Canada West action, albeit of the preseason variety.
The Cascades played a split-squad scrimmage vs. UBC on Friday afternoon, and followed with an exhibition game down the road in Langley vs. the Trinity Western Spartans on Saturday evening. The Spartans, reigning CW champions, prevailed in three sets (25-20, 25-20, 25-16).
“It was good to finally see what we’ve been talking about for two years now,” said Cascades head coach Janelle Rozema, whose team had been slated to make its Canada West debut in 2020-21 only for the season to be cancelled due to COVID-19.
“We’ve been talking about this level of game – the physicality, the speed, the size. But we’ve just been talking about it in theory, and we got to see it for the first time. We got an idea of how we measure up – where we’re pretty good, and where we need some work. I think it gave us some good direction.”
Fourth-year outside hitter Amanda Matsui paced the Cascades’ offence vs. the Spartans, posting 10 kills with a .304 hitting percentage. Sadie Wilson added four kills, and rookie middle Mo Likness added three kills on 10 swings to go with two blocks.
Rozema was also pleased with the play of setters Cailin Bitter and Kinna Fisher, both of whom played vs. TWU and ran a diverse offence and made quality decisions. Bitter finished with 12 assists, Fisher with seven. Libero Emily Matsui’s seven digs were a team-high.
