Fraser Valley (Dan Kinvig) – Women’s Volleyball: Thunderbirds dial up defence in four-set win over CascadesA strong defensive performance set the foundation for the UBC Thunderbirds on Friday evening in Abbotsford, as they defeated the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades in four sets.
The Thunderbirds racked up 75 digs in the match, with four players in double digits individually, and they also excelled at the net, with an 18-12 edge in blocks en route to a 25-19, 22-25, 25-15, 25-13 win.
The result allowed the UBC (6-5) to move ahead of the Cascades (5-6) and take sole possession of third place in the West Division. The two teams renew hostilities on Saturday at the UFV Athletic Centre (6 p.m., CanadaWest.tv presented by Co-op).
“There were times they made spectacular plays, for sure, where we just have to say, ‘Good job, UBC,’” UFV head coach Janelle Rozema analyzed afterward. “But there were definitely times we could have controlled our contacts better.
“Our post-game talk was about, ‘This is what Canada West volleyball is like.’ The little things really matter, and we haven’t had a team expose us in those ways in a while. It’s another lesson of how good the volleyball is at this level.”
The Thunderbirds wasted little time showing their quality – they scored the first nine points of the match, eight of which came with Erika Vermette at the service line, and Vermette notched two aces during that stretch. The Cascades, facing a daunting deficit, managed to string together five points midway through the set, capped by a block and a kill back-to-back from Alicja Hardy-Francis, but it was too little, too late, as UBC cruised to the 25-19 win.
The Cascades made a dramatic comeback in the second. Trailing 20-11, they scored 14 of the next 16 points to stun the T-Birds and take the set 25-22. Amanda Matsui, Hardy-Francis, and Sadie Wilson had service runs, and Mo Likness contributed a pair of resounding kills down the stretch as UFV improbably squared the match.
“They made volleyball harder for UBC to play (in the second set),” Rozema said. “In all other sets of the match UBC was really comfortable, but that was the one set we made them uncomfortable. They’re a more physical team than we are, but we blocked better, we defended better, and our hitters made better decisions and fewer errors.”
The Cascades were unable to transfer any of that momentum – UBC’s Cara Kovacs dominated the third set, hammering down five kills, and Kayla Oxland had a four-point service run mid-set that broke it open for the visitors.
It was more of the same in the fourth – the two teams were level at 9-9, but UBC reeled off eight of the next nine points with Oxland once again excelling at the service line, and they cruised from there.
Oxland had an outstanding evening, posting 38 assists, a team-best 19 digs, five kills, and two aces. Kovacs (13 kills) and Brynn Pasin (11 kills) led the attack, and in the digs department, Jess Goodridge (14 digs), Pasin (10) and Claire Cossarini (10) joined Oxland in double digits.
Likness led the Cascades with eight kills, Sadie Wilson notched seven kills, Amanda Matsui had six kills, 12 digs and two aces, and libero Emily Matsui had a team-best 18 digs.
Men’s Volleyball: Thunderbirds knock off Cascades in three
The University of the Fraser Valley men’s volleyball team dropped a three-set decision to the UBC Thunderbirds on Friday evening at the UFV Athletic Centre.
The Cascades pushed the T-Birds in each of the first two sets, only to watch the visitors pull away late to win both by matching 25-21 scores. UBC wrapped things up 25-16 in the third.
The Cascades (0-11) and Thunderbirds (6-5) conclude the weekend set on Saturday afternoon at UFV (4 p.m., CanadaWest.tv).
“We had our chances and we didn’t execute,” UFV bench boss Nathan Bennett noted afterward. “Fatigue is setting in now after this crazy month with the compressed schedule we’re dealing with, thanks to the floods last fall and COVID. More guys will get minutes as we go on here.”
The Cascades went point-for-point with the Thunderbirds for much of the first set, but UBC pulled away late to take it 25-21. Michael Dowhaniuk and Coltyn Liu were productive for the visitors, launching six kills apiece, while Nimo Benne, with four kills, set the pace for the Cascades.
UFV excelled in the early-to-middle stages of the second set, building a 16-12 advantage behind Caleb Kastelein, who racked up five kills in the set. UBC, after a timeout, responded with four straight points highlighted by a pair of Gerard Murray kills, and they would once again gain separation in the late stages to win it 25-21.
The first four points of the third set went to the T-Birds, and while UFV was able to take advantage of a series of UBC attack errors to draw even, the visitors would reel off five of the next six points, and they cruised from there.
Benne and Kastelein tied for team-high honours with eight kills apiece for the Cascades, Jonas Van Huizen posted 15 assists, and Eduardo Ferreira registered seven digs.
Dowhaniuk and Liu paced UBC with 13 kills each, and Mason Greves racked up 41 assists.
Men’s Basketball: Cascades’ comeback comes up short, UBC prevails 91-82
The University of the Fraser Valley men’s basketball team made a spirited fourth-quarter push, but the UBC Thunderbirds fended them off for a 91-82 victory at War Memorial Gym on Friday evening.
In a grind-it-out game with little pace or flow – the two teams combined for 64 free throws on the night – it was the Thunderbirds (14-2) earning their Canada West-leading 14th win of the campaign. The Cascades, third in the West Division, fell to 9-6.
The UFV squad continues its road trip with a Saturday date with the Victoria Vikes (5 p.m., CanadaWest.tv presented by Co-op).
“We’re at our best when the ball is flying and we’re getting up and down the floor,” Cascades head coach Joe Enevoldson noted afterward. “A good defensive basketball team can grind it out, slow you down and limit you in transition, and UBC did that tonight. We’ve got to do a better job of hitting shots down the stretch.”
The Thunderbirds clawed out an early advantage, putting together a 13-2 run in the first quarter headlined by three-pointers from Grant Audu and Triston Matthews. That gave them a 23-12 lead, and the hosts found themselves up 27-19 at the quarter pole.
The Cascades hung tough in the second quarter in large part due to the play of Zubair Seyed, who scored 11 points in the frame. Kyle Claggett chipped in with back-to-back buckets just before halftime, and the UBC lead was 50-42 at the break.
The Thunderbirds broke the game open with a 10-0 run midway through the third quarter, with Audu scoring four points during that surge.
The Cascades trailed by as many as 19, but were able to piece together a comeback as they tightened things up defensively in the fourth quarter. They limited UBC to 2-of-17 shooting from the field in the fourth, and were able to cut the deficit to single digits, but they weren’t able to get close enough to make the T-Birds truly sweat down the stretch.
“I thought the ball was sticky at times, and our spacing wasn’t great,” said Enevoldson, whose squad shot just 35.1 per cent from the field on the night, including 7-of-27 from three-point range. “I thought it was a really choppy game – they really grinded with us and we really grinded with them, and we were fortunate to cut it to nine (in the fourth).
“Defensively, we didn’t finish possessions off. Guys got to their dominant hand too much, and in the first half, our ball-screen coverage was porous to say the least. And then our bigs (Aidan Wilson and Dario Lopez) got into some foul trouble. Our attention to detail and scouting reports needs to be dialed in, especially against the top teams down the stretch here.”
Seyed’s 22 points were a game-high, and he added 10 rebounds. Jamar Ergas scored 14 points, and Wilson and Vick Toor had nine points apiece.
UBC’s Sukhman Sandhu went a perfect 12-for-12 from the free throw line on his way to 21 points, Audu scored 18, and James Woods chipped in with 15.
Women’s Basketball: Second-half comeback nets Cascades big road win at UBC
A monster second-half comeback yielded a crucial road victory for the University of the Fraser Valley women’s basketball team, as they topped the UBC Thunderbirds 64-56 on Friday evening at War Memorial Gym.
The Cascades struggled mightily with ball security in the first half, trailing 38-24 at the break and by as many as 17 points in the third quarter. They were able to find their mojo in the nick of time, ending the game on a scorching 23-6 surge to improve to 11-2 in Canada West play while dropping the T-Birds to 5-10.
The Cascades continue their road swing on Saturday as they visit the Victoria Vikes (3 p.m., CanadaWest.tv).
“UBC really came at us hard, right off the tip,” UFV head coach Al Tuchscherer observed. “They were playing the game at a whole different pace than we were, at both ends. We were not getting any stops, and they were really solid defensively, taking things away from us. I don’t think we really thought through what we needed to do – we were a little bit rattled in that time period. We just needed halftime to regroup a little bit.
“We talked about making a couple adjustments offensively, and we settled down defensively. We were just more prepared in the second half to do what we needed to do. And then we were able to make some really big shots and make some really big plays.”
The Cascades scuffled offensively in the first quarter – they shot 45.5 per cent from the field, yet mustered just 11 attempts as they struggled with turnovers. They gave the ball away eight times in the opening frame, while the T-Birds surrendered none, allowing the hosts to build a 20-15 lead after one.
Turnovers continued to plague UFV in the second – they coughed up the ball seven more times in the quarter, paving the way for UBC to grab a 38-24 lead. Eight different T-Birds hit the scoresheet in the first half, led by Emily Martindale’s eight points; Maddy Gobeil’s seven points paced the Cascades at the break.
The Cascades finally hit their stride midway through the third quarter, reeling off a 11-1 run capped by five straight Deanna Tuchscherer points to cut the deficit to 44-38. Tuchscherer and Gobeil caught fire from beyond the arc late in the frame, with Deanna hitting a pair and Maddy swishing one, and the deficit was 50-44 headed to the fourth.
UFV dominated the final frame, outscoring the T-Birds 20-6. They took their first lead with just over six minutes remaining as Nikki Cabuco hit back-to-back treys, and Natalie Rathler poured in eight points in the fourth as the Cascades cruised down the stretch.
Deanna Tuchscherer’s 19 points were a team-high, and she added nine rebounds and four assists. Rathler contributed 14 huge points off the bench along with three assists and three steals, and Gobeil had 13 points and eight boards.
Madison Legault paced UBC with 12 points, and Martindale was the hosts’ only other double-digit scorer with 10. The T-Birds lost standout guard Hailey Counsell to injury in the second quarter.
Afterward, Coach Tuchscherer noted Rather’s impact down the stretch.
“The improvement of Nat this year has been incredible to watch,” he said. “She’s just getting better every day. She just does so many great things for us. It was neat to see her really come up big for us in the second half.”
