The University of the Fraser Valley's women's volleyball team overpowered a strong Camosun Chargers squad in three sets on Saturday afternoon at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre.

The Cascades prevailed in decisive fashion (25-14, 25-9, 25-21), authoring an impressive bounce-back performance in the wake of Friday's five-set loss to the Chargers. The victory allowed them to keep pace with Camosun in the battle for PACWEST playoff seeding – UFV reclaimed third place in the conference at 9-5, with two games in hand on the fourth-place Chargers (9-7).

"It was a huge response," Cascades head coach Mike Gilray said. "That was a massive game for us, standings and playoff-wise, to make sure we keep pace with them. It was a clutch performance, and it was one of our most consistent nights. We rarely let them go on any runs."

Both teams are nationally ranked – UFV is No. 8 in the CCAA rankings, with the Chargers slotted in at No. 12.

On Saturday, it was the host Cascades taking control early and never letting go. Keira Fisher and her 10-point service run were the story in the first set, staking UFV to a 15-6 lead and allowing them to cruise to a 25-14 victory.

The Cascades took their dominance to another level in the second set, jumping out to leads of 8-2 and 15-5 on the back of strong play at the net, before closing it out handily 25-9.

After UFV took a 17-13 lead in the third set, the Chargers pressed hard but a strong passing performance by libero Karissa Marazzi, with three digs in quick succession, regained the momentum for the Cascades as they clinched the decisive set 25-21.

The Cascades' offence was extremely diverse, with five players registering between three and nine digs. Amanda Matsui led the way with nine kills, and Kim Bauder (six), Hanna Hieltjes (six), Fisher (four) and Alysha Cooper (three) all had their moments offensively. Setter Kara Williams's outstanding distribution netted her player of the game honours, as voted by her teammates.

A trio of Cascades posted double-digit digs: Bauder (17), Marazzi (13) and Matsui (11).

Gilray lauded the play of Fisher – she came on as a sub at middle on Friday and sparked the team, and was subsequently inserted as a starter at right side on Saturday. Middles Hieltjes and Cooper also excelled – they didn't have a single hitting error between them, and they each notched four blocks. As a team, UFV posted 12 blocks, an outstanding number in a three-set match.

Gilray also noted that his team was much more dangerous from the service line after a tentative showing the night before.

"Today we went back to real confident serving, and watched how it changed the game," he said. "Overall, there was a big difference in our commitment to detail."

The Cascades volleyball teams are back in action at home next weekend, hosting the College of the Rockies Avalanche on Saturday (women 5 p.m., men 7 p.m.) and Sunday (women 11 a.m., men 1 p.m.) at the EFAC.

- with files from Jordie Arthur, Cascades communications assistant