Langley/Abbotsford/Victoria (Dan Kinvig UFV with files from Scott Stewart, TWU Athletics) –
Women’s Volleyball: Spartans top Cascades in Langley
The University of the Fraser Valley women’s volleyball team had its moments, but the U SPORTS No. 1-ranked Trinity Western Spartans ultimately pulled away for a three-set win on Friday evening at the Langley Events Centre.
The Cascades pushed the Spartans in the first two sets, only to watch the hosts take them both by scores of 25-23 and 25-20. TWU polished things off in the third, 25-11.
UFV fell to 5-9 in Canada West play, while the West Division-leading Spartans improved to 13-1.
“Our standard was just a little bit lower tonight,” Cascades head coach Janelle Rozema analyzed. “It seemed like because we were trying to use a little more of our bench, we used that as an excuse to cut our standards in half. You’re going to need to call on your bench at different times, and our standards have to stay the same, no matter what combination of athletes we have on the floor.”
The Spartans seemed to pick up where they’d left off the previous night, building a 22-15 lead in the first set, but the Cascades rallied. Back-to-back kills followed by a block from rookie middle Ellie Sinclair got the visitors on track, and they would close to within 24-23 before an Avery Heppell kill gave the Spartans a 25-23 win.
“We were sticking to our attack game-plan, and our attackers really used their depth of shots,” Rozema said, reflecting on what her team did well during their first-set push.
The second set played out along the same lines – TWU raced out to a 17-8 lead, but an Amanda Matsui service run drew the Cascades back to within 22-20. Their comeback ran out of gas at that point, as Heppell came up with a kill and a block to help the Spartans take it 25-20.
The Cascades struggled with errors in the third set, and the Spartans pulled away to close out the match.
Sadie Wilson paced the Cascades with seven kills, Kinna Fisher posted 14 assists, and Emily Matsui’s eight digs were a team-high.
Heppell registered 11 kills, and Annelise Hielema had eight for the Spartans.
Up next for the Cascades volleyball teams is a series with the UBC Okanagan Heat, running Sunday (men 4 p.m., women 6 p.m.) and Monday (men 1 p.m., women 3 p.m.) at the UFV Athletic Centre. Sunday’s games feature pregame senior celebrations for Graham Walkey and Justin Peleshytyk of the men’s team, and Amanda Matsui and Sadie Wilson of the women’s squad.
Women’s Basketball: Cascades clinical in blowout win over Vikes
The University of the Fraser Valley women’s basketball team showcased its prowess at both ends of the court in a 71-44 homecourt victory over the Victoria Vikes on Friday.
The Cascades got 20 points apiece from sophomore standouts Deanna Tuchscherer and Maddy Gobeil, and limited the Vikes to 25.0 per cent shooting from the field en route to their fifth straight win.
UFV (13-2) and UVic (9-6) meet again on Saturday at 5 p.m. at the UFV Athletic Centre. Graduating athletes Victoria Jacobse and Alexis Worrell will be honoured in a postgame Senior Night ceremony.
“You’re never sure, with a younger team like this, how they’ll react to winning last week and how they’d approach tonight’s game,” Cascades head coach Al Tuchscherer said afterward, alluding to his team’s 68-54 win at UVic last Saturday.
“But our approach was fantastic tonight – I thought it was really business-like. We started with a lot of energy, defensively we were solid, and I thought our transition game really opened things up for us, too.”
The Vikes started brightly, opening a 6-0 lead on three-pointers from Ashlyn Day and Calli McMillan, but the Cascades dominated the balance of the first quarter. Deanna Tuchscherer exploded for nine points as UFV led 19-12 heading to the second.
The Cascades took firm control of the proceedings midway through the second, going on a 10-0 run – highlighted by treys from Gobeil and Worrell – to grab a 35-22 lead.
The hosts would maintain a comfortable double-digit lead throughout the third quarter, with Gobeil scoring seven points in the frame, and they stretched the lead beyond 20 amidst a 14-5 surge early in the fourth.
Deanna Tuchscherer’s well-rounded stat line also included 10 rebounds and six assists, and Gobeil knocked down four three-pointers on the night. Natalie Rathler added 13 points, and Alexis Worrell sparked the Cascades off the bench with five points, six boards and four assists.
McMillan (13 points), Aleah Ashlee (11) and Day (10) were the Vikes’ double-digit scorers.
After struggling with turnovers in recent games, the Cascades took great care of the ball on Friday, coughing the ball up just 11 times while forcing the Vikes into 22 turnovers of their own.
“It’s been an emphasis this week to simplify our game a little bit and try and improve our sharpness,” Coach Tuchscherer noted. “The girls have really been thinking about that in practice, and it was nice to see that translate onto the court a little bit. We didn’t turn the ball over too much, and we had 19 assists, so that was a good number for us as well.”
IN BRIEF:
• UFV Athletics inducted Olympic champion rower Lisa Roman and All-Canadian women’s basketball standout Sue Parke into the Cascades Hall of Fame in a halftime ceremony. Read more about their incredible careers here.
• Cascades rookie guard Charley Arnold drained a three-pointer in the final minute for the first regular-season points of her career.
Men’s Volleyball: Cascades fall to Spartans in three
The top-ranked Trinity Western Spartans wrapped up a sweep of a home-and-home series with the University of the Fraser Valley men’s volleyball team, prevailing in three sets on Friday evening at the Langley Events Centre.
The Spartans (14-0), coming off a three-set triumph at the UFV Athletic Centre on Thursday, won by scores of 25-18, 25-13, 25-17 in the rematch. Their strength at the service line was a factor, as they racked up 13 aces on the night.
The Cascades (0-14) get Saturday off before returning to action with a huge Sunday-Monday series vs. the UBC Okanagan Heat, with a playoff berth still within reach.
“We came out with a better effort, but they made a lot more errors,” UFV head coach Nathan Bennett said, comparing his team’s Friday performance vs. TWU to Thursday’s. “At the end of the day, they made mistakes, and we weren’t able to capitalize on them. If you want to be good in this league, that’s something you’ve got to learn how to do.”
In the first set, the Cascades and Spartans were even early on, level at 12-12. But with TWU leading 19-17, the Spartans were able to outscore the Cascades 6-1 down the stretch to take the opening set 25-18. TWU hit .409 in the first set, while UFV hit .375.
Trinity Western raced out to an 8-2 lead in the second and continued to roll from there, leading 16-7 at the technical timeout on their way to a 25-13 win, hitting .556 along the way.
The Cascades hung tough with the Spartans in the third and were within 12-11, but TWU extended its lead to 16-12 at the break and UFV was unable to close from there as the Spartans prevailed 25-17.
Comrie Engbers led the Cascades with four kills, five digs and an ace, while Bailey Burdick contributed four kills and one block. Tyson Ardell also had a solid outing for the Cascades, contributing at the service line and at the net defensively. Jackson Howe and Jordan Schnitzer had nine kills apiece for the Spartans.
“It was great to be able to share the floor with the best team in the country four times (in conference play), and we learned a lot by playing them,” Bennett said.
“We definitely weren’t passing well enough tonight to get into positions to score, but it’s also the mentality of our attackers – we were just looking to put the ball in play, rather than being more aggressive with it. And when you put the ball in play against a good team, they find a way to get a kill.”
Up next for the Cascades volleyball teams is a series with the UBC Okanagan Heat, running Sunday (men 4 p.m., women 6 p.m.) and Monday (men 1 p.m., women 3 p.m.) at the UFV Athletic Centre. Sunday’s games feature pregame senior celebrations for Graham Walkey and Justin Peleshytyk of the men’s team, and Amanda Matsui and Sadie Wilson of the women’s squad.
Men’s Basketball: Vikes’ red-hot shooting powers win over Cascades
Deadly outside shooting and airtight defence proved an overwhelming combination for the Victoria Vikes on Friday, as they topped the University of the Fraser Valley men’s basketball team 107-67 at the UFV Athletic Centre.
The Vikes shot a scorching 54.8 per cent (17-for-31) from three-point range, with Diego Maffia leading the charge – he drained six triples, all in the first half, en route to a game-high 26 points. UVic’s length also gave the Cascades problems, as they limited the hosts to 35.6 per cent shooting from the field.
The Cascades (9-8) and Vikes (13-1) clash again on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the UFV Athletic Centre, in the regular-season finale for UFV. Graduating athletes Vick Toor and Jordyn Sekhon will be honoured in a postgame Senior Day ceremony.
“That’s a team that could compete for a national championship, and probably will,” Cascades head coach Joe Enevoldson said of the Vikes.
“When they shoot 17-for-31 from three, and from multiple people, they’re as good as any team in the country. In order to compete with the best teams in the country, you’ve got to bring your A-plus game, and we definitely didn’t tonight. We had a great week of practice, but it just didn’t translate. They hit shots, and we did not.”
The Cascades hung with the Vikes early – they were within 18-16 after Kyle Claggett swung the ball to a wide-open Jake Willemsen for a three-pointer. But the visitors took over at that point – they reeled off an 29-0 run bridging the first and second quarters, with tough defence leading to highly efficient offence.
Maffia had his fingerprints all over the game-changing run – he went 6-for-10 from beyond the arc on his way to 22 first-half points, and Victoria led 56-22 as the teams headed to the locker rooms.
It was more of the same in the second half, and the Vikes ended the game with five players – Maffia, Justin McChesney, Ethan Boag, Elias Ralph, and Scott Kellum – with multiple three-pointers.
Jamar Ergas’s 14 points paced the Cascades, and Toor contributed 12 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Dario Lopez added nine points, and fellow rookie forward Mattias Klim gave UFV a lift in the second half, posting six points, five rebounds and a block.
“I thought Matty was fantastic – despite playing limited minutes all second semester, he was ready to go tonight,” Enevoldson said. “To be thrown out there against one of the top teams in Canada West, kudos to him – he performed. He’s really progressed.”
Ralph (14 points), McChesney (11), Kellum (11) and Matthew Ellis (10) were the Vikes’ double-digits scorers, and Kellum added eight assists.
