Abbotsford (Jordie Arthur) – Women’s Volleyball: Cascades continue winning ways in three-set sweep of Dinos
The UFV Cascades picked up their fifth consecutive victory over a nationally ranked opponent with a three-set sweep (25-22, 27-25, 25-22) of the Calgary Dinos on Saturday evening at the UFV Athletic Centre. During the run the Cascades have picked up a win over the Mount Royal Cougars, and two wins over both the Alberta Pandas and the Dinos.
The Cascades grabbed a 22-16 lead in the first set thanks in part to four timely blocks from Mo Likness, on their way to take it 25-22.
The Dinos bounced back to build a 17-13 advantage in the second, but the Cascades pushed back to level the score at 22 after an Elizabeth Baird service run. The teams traded points back and forth, but Natalie Lemoine-Sells picked up two kills in the last three points to help her team to a 27-25 set win.
Calgary took an early 6-1 lead in the third, but a 16-7 run from UFV gave them back a 17-13 advantage. The teams once again found themselves tied at 22, but a Baird ace and two kills from Attieh sealed it for the Cascades.
Natalie Lemoine-Sells shined offensively once again for the Cascades, picking up 11 kills on 21 attacks, while only being credited with one error on the night.
Gabrielle Attieh posted team-highs on both sides of the ball, notching 16 kills and 13 digs in the effort.
Daisy Olsen led the Dinos with 13 kills and added eight digs, while teammate Sammi Boag posted 10 kills and 11 digs in the defeat.
Cascades player Elizabeth Baird
“This team, we just work so hard. Coming off of the break and going straight into it again, I think we just came out and performed really well this weekend”
“A steam roller just keeps going and keeps plowing and doesn’t stop for anything, and I think that’s just what we wanted to embody as a team. We are trusting our skills, trusting our practice, trusting each other and working together to keep going. It’s special what we have on our team this year.”
“I think we are just going to keep getting better, trusting the process, buying in, and coming in ready to grind each day.”
With the win the Cascades have now won nine of their last 10 matches to move to 9-5 on the year and pull themselves level with the Dinos, Mount Royal, and Winnipeg in a four-way tie for third place in Canada West.
The Cascades now head on the road to Edmonton to face the MacEwan Griffins on Friday and Saturday, while Calgary will play host to Winnipeg next week. All Canada West matches are available to be streamed live on Canada West TV.
Men’s Volleyball: Cascades fall in five to Dinos
The UFV Cascades fell in a five-set contest to the Calgary Dinos on Saturday night at the UFV Athletic Centre. The Cascades prevailed the previous night in another five-setter but were unable to close this one out down the stretch.
The Cascades grabbed an 8-2 lead in the first, but Calgary battled back to cut the deficit to three at 21-18 before going on to score seven of the next nine points, including two kills each from Erik Godwin and Lincoln Baines, to take it 25-23.
The teams traded blows in the second, but it was UFV taking control in the late stage of the set scoring eight of the final 10 points to grab the second set 25-21.
UFV gained a 19-15 edge in the middle portion of the third set before finishing it off 25-20.
The Cascades looked to have the match in their hands with a 24-21 lead in the fourth, but a side out and a serving run buy Zack Durant was punctuated by an ace as they came back to win the set 26-24.
The Dinos built a 7-4 lead in the fifth set before extending it to 10-5 and eventually closing out the match 15-11.
Nimo Benne carried the bulk of the offence for the Cascades in this one, notching an incredible 29 kills on 60 total attacks with only four errors. He also added one ace, and eight digs in the effort.
Caleb Kastelein added 10 kills, and Ryan Hampe had six kills and five blocks for UFV.
Louis Kunstmann had a team-high 14 kills and added six blocks and 10 digs in the match for the Dinos. Zack Durant posted a game-high five aces, while teammate Jackson Meier had nine kills and eight blocks, and Erik Godwin notched 11 kills for the visitors.
Cascades Middle Tyson Ardell
“I thought we started off pretty well again, but we kind of just had some dips throughout the game that came in bad moments. We had some high moments and some really low moments, and the low moments came at the wrong time.”
“We need to find a consistent high level. We have shown that we can compete with anyone, and it’s just about finding that consistency. I don’t know what it is yet, but we are going to keep searching in our practices and in games we are going to keep encouraging each other and we are going to find that consistency level and stay there.”
The win sees the Dinos move to 5-9 on the season, while the loss drops the Cascades record to 3-11.
The Cascades now head to Edmonton to face the MacEwan Griffins on Friday and Saturday, while the Dinos will play host to Winnipeg next week. All Canada West matches are available to be streamed live on Canada West TV.
