Fraser Valley (Dan Kinvig) –Women’s Volleyball – Heat Win in the Clutch Against Heat
The University of the Fraser Valley women’s volleyball team wouldn’t be denied in their regular-season finale, battling their way to a four-set triumph over the UBC Okanagan Heat.
The Cascades, coming off a heartbreaking five-set loss on Sunday to UBCO, dropped the first set of Monday’s rematch at the UFV Athletic Centre, and saw late leads in the third and fourth nearly slip away. But they came through in the clutch, prevailing 17-25, 25-14, 30-28, 25-23.
The result boosted the Cascades’ record in Canada West play to 6-10, good for fourth in the West Division; UBC Okanagan, meanwhile, slipped into a second-place tie with UBC at 8-6 with two games left on their schedule.
“We were so determined for the win,” UFV head coach Janelle Rozema enthused afterward. “We talked about getting the win in four, because last night we had a chance to win it in four and we let it escape to a fifth set. So our goal was winning it in four, and in that fourth set, there was nothing that was going to take us out.”
The Heat came out firing in the first set led by Hellen Lacava, who racked up five kills in the frame and added two aces during an early four-point service run that allowed the visitors to pull away en route to a decisive 25-17 win.
The Cascades flipped the script in the second – Alicja Hardy-Francis had a monster eight-point service run, capped by a pair of Mo Likness kills and a Hardy-Francis ace, as UFV built an 11-2 lead. UFV cruised from there, with a pair of Amanda Matsui kills closing it out 25-14.
The third set was more closely contested, but it was the Cascades gaining some separation late, up 24-21 after a Matsui kill. The Heat, though, staved off three set points, with key kills from Amaya Perry and Lacava, and they surged ahead and twice earned set points of their own. UFV survived via clutch kills from Matsui, Sadie Wilson and McBride, and they eventually secured an epic 30-28 win following back-to-back Heat errors.
The Cascades took control in the fourth, going up 17-10 as Cailin Bitter reeled off a four-point service run, with Hardy-Francis picking up consecutive kills during that stretch. The Heat, though, took advantage of a series of UFV errors to claw their way back into it, drawing to within 21-20 after a Kendall Stephan kill. The UFV squad came up big at the net, though, as back-to-back blocks put them up 24-21. The Heat once again proved resilient, surviving a pair of match points via two Stephan kills, but an attack error by Stephan ended the match, 25-23.
Amanda Matsui racked up huge numbers in the win, with a game-high 18 kills and 21 digs. McBride (10 kills, 11 digs) also notched a double-double, Wilson added eight kills, and Likness had seven kills along with four points on blocks. Bitter posted 32 set assists, and libero Emily Matsui led all players with 22 digs.
Lacava (11 kills) and Amaya Perry (10 kills) were the most prolific Heat attackers, and Lacava finished with four service aces.
“We’re really fortunate – the last run of teams we got to play are really good, and it forced us to keep our level high,” Rozema said, reflecting on how her team is trending heading into the playoffs. “We’ve been working on our ‘excellence endurance’, which I’ve noted before. This (UBCO) team, as well, pushed us to have the mentality of, ‘OK, we’re not going to give you any points. You have to earn your points.’ That’s the name of the game in playoffs. In the playoffs, you have to earn your points. To the credit of our opponents we got to play at the tail end of our season, it’s going to really prepare us.”
Men’s Volleyball: Cascades fall to Heat in regular-season finale
The University of the Fraser Valley men’s volleyball team concluded its Canada West regular-season schedule with a three-set loss at the hands of the UBC Okanagan Heat on Monday afternoon.
The Heat prevailed by scores of 25-19, 25-22, 25-19 to level their record at 7-7, dropping the Cascades – coming off their first-ever conference win on Sunday – to 1-15.
Now, the Cascades await their playoff fate, as they’re currently tied with the MacEwan Griffins for the final CW wild-card playoff berth. The Griffins have two games remaining next weekend vs. the Calgary Dinos – if they’re able to win either of those, they’d be playoff bound and the Cascades would be out. If the Dinos sweep, the Cascades would be in based on the sets won/lost tiebreaker.
Nimo Benne, the Cascades’ star outside hitter, was sidelined on Monday, but head coach Nathan Bennett noted it was an opportunity for others to step up and raise their level.
“The opportunity was there, and we’re still waiting for them to do that,” he said. “In this league, it’s not every other point or every five points that you have to be on – it’s every moment. You have to know your job and execute your job at every single moment of every match.
“And then you go behind that and you’ll say, you have to be ready to practice at your best level every single day. You talk about nutrition, recovery and sleep – and taking care of your own personal lives and your academic lives. It’s 24/7, being a high-level athlete. If we don’t figure that out, it’s going to be a real tough run.”
In the first set, the Cascades faced a modest deficit early but got back to within 17-16 after back-to-back Noah Bouius blocks. The Heat, though, scored the next four points, highlighted by a kill and an ace from Maxwell Heppell, and they cruised from there, taking it 25-19. UBCO hit .345 in the first, compared to UFV’s .033.
The first three points of the second set went to UBCO – via Cascade errors – and they maintained a multi-point margin the rest of the way. UFV made a late push with Ryan Adams at the service line and Caleb Kastelein swinging effectively on the left, staving off three set points before succumbing 25-22.
The Cascades opened a 7-4 lead to start the third, but the Heat quickly equalized, and they gained some separation up 17-14 after back-to-back aces from Keatan Mann. The visitors would pull away down the stretch to close out the match.
Kastelein posted a game-high 13 kills, and Eduardo Ferreira and Ryan Adams had five kills apiece, with Ferreira adding a team-high 10 digs.
The Heat excelled at the net, registering 10 blocks in the match, led by Teo Ardanaz with six block assists. Cameron Vanderveen paced the UBCO offence with 10 kills, and Heppell had nine.
“They (UBCO) did change their defensive structure – they closed the line on us, which is great, good for them,” Bennett noted. “But we weren’t making smart shots – high off the block or in the seam. We just closed our eyes and hope, and when you do that, you’ll be picking it out of your laces.”
