Fraser Valley/Kelowna (Jordie Arthur) – Womens Basketball: Julia Tuchscherer ties program record with 35 points in bounce back win over UBCO
Kelowna, BC – Julia Tuchscherer scored 35 points as the UFV Cascades bounced back from a Friday night defeat to pick up a 93-61 road victory over the UBCO Heat on Saturday afternoon.
With the victory the Cascades move to 7-1 on the year, while the loss snaps a five-game win streak for the Heat and moves them to 5-3 this season.
Julia Tuchscherer’s incredible offensive night equaled the program record for points in a game, which was set in 2020 by her older sister Deanna Tuchscherer. While scoring at over a point per minute in the game, Julia Tuchscherer also managed to pick up 14 rebounds in the effort.
UFV head coach Al Tuchscherer praised the second year forward on her response after the previous night.
“We know that Julia has all sorts of ability, and for her it’s just a matter of being aggressive and trying to establish herself early in the game. Last night we challenged her to establish herself in the paint, and I think she really took that to heart today. She was really tough from the beginning of the game.”
Despite the offensive outburst, the Cascades once again found themselves off to a slow start, as they were outscored 17-12 in the first quarter. However, the visitors turned up the temperature on the Heat in the second. Julia Tuchscherer notched 11 points in the quarter to jumpstarted UFV and send them into the half with a 38-31 lead.
The Cascades would not take their foot off the pedal in the second half, outscoring the heat 55-30 over the third and fourth quarters, enabling them to pick up the win by a 32-point margin.
“I thought the team did a really good job of regrouping today,” explained Al Tuchscherer. “They came out and played a real solid game together, played hard for each other, and it was probably one of the better games we have played in the last several weeks, so I was really proud of their effort.“
Following her season-high scoring performance the previous night, Maddy Gobeil picked up 16 points, nine rebounds, six assists and five steals in the game. Nikki Cabuco also had a solid outing with 13 points while going three for four from beyond the arc, and first-year Bernie Leda posted 11 points in the game.
Sofia Ainsa Lluch paced the Heat with 18 points in the game, and Kelsey Faik notched 11 points and eight rebounds, while Alessia Brutto and Jaeli Ibbetson each had six points in the effort.
The Cascades will now head to Langley for a pair of matches against local rivals Trinity Western on Friday and Saturday, while UBCO will play host to the Regina Cougars next week. All games can be streamed live on Canada West TV.
“We’re a team that has some great potential and we have some players that really know how to play, but we’re not a polished version at this point. We need to continue to get better and we kind of stalled on that a bit, so I thought tonight was a real step forward in how we want to play as a team.”
Women’s Volleyball: Tough blocking helps propel Cascades to four-set victory over Cougars
Abbotsford, BC – The UFV Cascades knocked off the Mount Royal Cougars in four-sets on Saturday afternoon at the UFV Athletic Centre. UFV prevailed by set scores of 25-23, 25-19, 22-25, and 25-19 to improve to 5-5 on the season, while MRU falls to 6-4 this year.
The Cascades were bolstered by a strong defensive effort, as five UFV players managed to register blocks in the match. This effort was led by Mo Likness with five blocks, and Cailin Bitter with four, while Natalie Lemoine-Sells and Alicja Hardy-Francis each had three.
“They are a very aggressive and hard-hitting team, so we knew we were going to have to be strong at the net,” explained Lemoine-Sells after the game. “We worked a lot this week to figure out when we were going to go up and what seams we were going to be taking — just a lot of emphasis on that”
With the score 17 apiece in the opening set, the Cascades took control to grab a 24-19 lead. MRU pushed to catch up, pulling the score back to 24-23, but a block by Likness and Bitter gave the Cascades the 25-23 set win.
Down 12-11 in the second, Hardy-Francis made a big impact, picking up three consecutive kills, and a block to help the Cascades to an 18-12 advantage before taking the set 25-19.
Mount Royal jumped out to early leads of 7-3 and 11-5 in the fourth, but a five-serve run from Hardy-Francis drew them back to level at 17 apiece. However, with the score now 21 all, Mount Royal scored four of the next five points to extend the match with a 25-22 victory.
UFV took control again early in the fourth, as they jumped out to leads of 9-4, and 12-6, before extending the advantage to 22-14, and closing out the match 25-19 on the back of a Lemoine-Sells kill.
Haley Roe had a game-high 24 kills for the Cougars, while Quinn Pelland posted 41 assists, and Sarah McKillican had 26 digs.
Gabrielle Attieh paced the Cascades with 20 kills and 19 digs on the night, while Lemoine-Sells notched 11 kills and 17 digs, and Bitter added 32 assists.
The Cascades next action is a trip to the University of Alberta next Friday and Saturday to conclude their fall semester schedule, before returning to home court in January. Meanwhile MRU hosts the University of Manitoba next week.
“This win is one we were all so excited for,” noted Lemoine-Sells. “So much was left on the floor, so we’re going to pick that right back up when we get back on our home court.”
Men’s Volleyball: Halas, Cascades, fall in four against Cougars
Graduating athlete Stefan Halas played his final home game for the UFV Cascades on Saturday, but the occasion didn’t go as planned because for the second straight night UFV fell in four sets to the Mount Royal Cougars.
The Cougars prevailed by scores of 25-18, 22-25, 25-18, and 25-19 to improve their record to 7-3, while the Cascades dropped to 2-8 on the year.
The Cougars managed to take a 12-10 lead in the first set, before extending that advantage to 17-13 and eventually finishing it off 25-18.
With the score level at 10 in the second, Jackson Brennan managed a pair of aces in a five-serve run to give his team a 15-10 lead. However, the Cascades chipped away at that advantage to even the score at 20, before a three-serve run from Caleb Kastelein gave the hosts an advantage they would not relinquish, taking it 25-22.
MRU was not to be stopped in the final two sets, as they jumped out to a 14-7 lead in the third and an 11-3 lead in the fourth before closing out the final sets 25-18 and 25-19.
Nimo Benne led the Cascades with a game-high 22 kills, while Reece Wilson popped up a game-high 15 digs.
Chris Byam paced the Cougars with 16 kills, while Jackson Brennan notched 43 assists, and three aces in the match.
Halas, who was honoured in a pregame ceremony, made his final home appearance as he will be graduating from UFV at the end of the fall semester.
“It means everything to me,” Halas explained on the support from his family friends and teammates on the day.
“Volleyball for the last five years especially, but really for the last 10 years has been such a huge component of who I am. I love the sport, and I love playing with the guys. Playing on a team you create this brotherhood that you really can’t find anywhere else and playing for five years with that brotherhood has been amazing.”
The Cascades close out their fall semester schedule with a trip to the University of Alberta next Friday and Saturday, while MRU will play host to the University of Manitoba next week.
“We are going to go into it with everything we have.” Halas noted on the upcoming matches.
“We believe in ourselves, and we put in the work outside of the games — hustling in practice and grinding in the gym. So, I’m feeling really good about the games coming up.”
