Abbotsford (Dan Kinvig) – Women’s Volleyball: Likness, Cascades shine in home opener
The University of the Fraser Valley women’s volleyball team rose to the occasion on a historic night, topping the Thompson Rivers WolfPack in four sets in their first-ever Canada West conference game at home.
The Cascades showed some signs of nerves in the early going, but grew stronger as the match wore on, ultimately prevailing 26-24, 17-25, 26-24, 25-16 in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.
Rookie middle Mo Likness had a breakout game, racking up 11 kills on just 15 swings for a .600 hitting percentage to pace UFV.
The Cascades (4-5) and WolfPack (1-10) wrap up the weekend series on Saturday at the UFV Athletic Centre (3 p.m., CanadaWest.tv presented by Co-op).
“It means the world, for sure,” UFV head coach Janelle Rozema said, reflecting on the opportunity to, at long last, play at home as a Canada West program.
“We talk a lot about how our home court is sacred, and having our logo in the centre of the court, reminding us of who we’re representing, we’ve been missing that. And then having the whole crowd behind us, we haven’t experienced that yet. And the crowd was great tonight. It was a really good atmosphere, a really good feel.”
The Cascades got off to an uneven start, as a series of hitting errors saw them trailing 7-2 to open the first set. Likness gave the hosts a lift midway through the set, notching a pair of kills and an ace to draw UFV back to within 14-12, but the WolfPack, with Anastasiia Muzyka at the service line, were able to push the advantage back to 20-15. The Cascades battled back to tie it 23-23 after two straight Likness points – a resounding kill followed by an ace – and an Amanda Matsui kill put the hosts up 24-23. TRU staved off one set point, but Cailin Bitter ultimately closed it out, picking the back left corner for an ace.
The WolfPack, again, got off to a strong start in the second, surging ahead 7-4, and they maintained a lead in the neighbourhood of two points until back-to-back blocks stretched the advantage to 19-15. They would pull away to take it 25-17, with Muzyka registering eight assists and a pair of solo blocks in the set.
UFV started brightly in the third, going up 4-1 early, highlighted by a huge Likness kill and a Matsui ace. The Wolfpack erased that edge in a hurry, going point for point with the Cascades with Seray Altay doing much of the damage for the visitors. UFV took a 16-15 lead into the technical timeout, then gained a smidge of separation, up 22-20 after back-to-back blocks from Likness and Sadie Wilson. Another Wilson block set up set point at 24-22, and after TRU battled back to tie, Kristen McBride took over with a kill followed by an ace to close it out 26-24.
The Cascades grabbed a quick 9-4 lead in the fourth, with Cailin Bitter rolling at the service line and Amanda Matsui knocking down a pair of highlight-reel kills. A Wilson service run stretched it to 13-5, and the UFV side cruised from there, taking it 25-16.
Amanda Matsui’s 13 kills ended up as a game high, and her sister Emily, the Cascades’ libero, had a strong game with 13 digs. Rookie setter Cailin Bitter was outstanding at the controls of the offence, posting 36 assists, while Wilson (seven kills) and McBride (five kills) also chipped in offensively.
Altay, with 10 kills, set the tone offensively for TRU, Brooklyn Olfert added seven kills, and Muzyka finished with 20 assists.
“It’s really coming out as a strong theme, that we start games nervous,” Rozema said. “That’s our next task – to start games out a little more confident and comfortable in our skin. I’m not overly surprised, because we’re so young. What’s really encouraging is, even though they start nervous, they really settle down as the game goes on, which shows a level of maturity.”
As for Likness, Rozema said she knew what the rookie from Mission, B.C. was capable of.
“If a team doesn’t pay attention to her, she’s going to make them pay,” she said. “Thompson Rivers was leaving her… which is a dangerous thing to do against a player like Mo.”
Men’s Volleyball: Cascades fall to WolfPack in home opener
The University of the Fraser Valley men’s volleyball team dropped a three-set decision to the Thompson Rivers WolfPack in their home opener on Friday evening at the UFV Athletic Centre.
The Cascades were in the mix in all three sets, but the WolfPack were able to execute late and take the match by scores of 25-22, 28-26 and 25-21. TRU improved to 2-7, while dropping UFV to 0-7.
The two teams renew hostilities on Saturday (5 p.m.) and Sunday (3 p.m.) at the UFV Athletic Centre.
“I think there were some nerves, definitely, and we haven’t played in 63 days,” Cascades head coach Nathan Bennett analyzed afterward. “We can play (intrasquad) against each other all the time, but it’s not the same if you don’t have an opponent and get some rhythm.
“I’m glad we have these games in a row to hopefully get some rhythm, and today was hopefully a step in the right direction. We could see we weren’t in rhythm – we were disjoined, weren’t executing. And they were playing great. I give TRU so much credit. Defensively they were on every single ball, sending it back over, wearing us down. They deserved to win tonight.”
The Cascades rode the energy of the home crowd early, going up 4-1 with resounding kills from Nimo Benne, Ryan Adams and Tyson Ardell among the highlights. The WolfPack found their footing thanks to back-to-back kills from Thundersky Walkingbear, and they opened a four-point lead (19-15) after Samuel Elgert followed a kill by stepping to the service line for an ace. UFV was within 21-19 after a Noah Bouius kill, but TRU pulled away to take it 25-22.
The hosts took control in the middle stages of the second set, going up 13-9 after a Bouius ace. The Cascades continued to cook at the service line, as back-to-back aces from Jonas Van Huizen made it 20-14. TRU fought back to draw even at 23-23, though, and staved off three set points before taking it 28-26. Rookie Max Turgeon closed it out with back-to-back aces of his own.
That took the wind out of the Cascades’ sails momentarily as they fell behind 10-7 in the third, but they rallied to go up 14-11 with Jonas Van Huizen hammering some tough serves and Caleb Kastelein finding success on the left side. But the WolfPack strung together six straight points – four of which were Cascade attacking errors – to go up 17-14, with Turgeon once again at the service line. UFV would battle back to equalize at 18-18 on a Benne ace, but TRU was once again the sharper team in the late stages, and Anton Napolitano closed out the match with a kill.
“We can’t be scared of the moment, and we can’t let the moment get too big,” Bennett said, reflecting on his team’s stumble late in the second set. “When you have a chance to win, you have to be calm and be ready to execute in those moments. We weren’t. We felt frantic when we had a chance to close out sets. And when you’re frantic, you don’t execute.”
Benne’s 10 kills were a team high for UFV, and Van Huizen racked up 25 assists and three service aces. Middles Bouius and Ardell had five kills apiece, and libero Reece Wilson contributed 12 digs.
Sam Flowerday’s 10 kills led the WolfPack, and Napolitano posted 17 assists and 11 digs.
