The University of the Fraser Valley men's volleyball team proved to be too much for their crosstown rivals on Friday night at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre, defeating the Columbia Bible College Bearcats in three sets.
The Cascades edged the Bearcats 25-20 in a fiercely contested opening set, then leapt out to a 7-2 lead in the second behind some tough serving from setter
Graham Walkey, and despite some late resistance from CBC, finished it off 25-16. A back-and-forth third set saw the hosts close it out 25-18, punctuated by
Landon Uy's fourth ace of the night for the winning point.
"The things we've been working on all month, we showed today," said
Nathan Bennett, who picked up the win in his first regular-season game at the helm of the Cascades. "The hard work, being responsible for your job, and staying focused throughout was a big one. What I've seen in the past month, in a few of our exhibition games, we've tended to lose focus throughout the match. But I thought this match specifically, we held our focus with was great."
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Third-year outside hitter Uy led the way for the Cascades, hitting at a .526 clip while racking up game-high totals for kills (12) and aces (four). Walkey – facing his former team in the Bearcats – registered 27 assists. Rookie
Caleb Kastelein contributed nine kills, and middle
Ian Jagersma had four kills and two solo blocks.
Josh Brandt and Noah Bouius tied for team-high honours with five kills apiece for CBC.
The Cascades volleyball teams are back in action on Saturday as they travel across town to CBC for rematches with the Bearcats (women 6 p.m., men 8 p.m.).
"End of the day, every match and every set start 0-0," Bennett said. "This game's over – they're going to play a much better game in their gym, we've just got to be ready for it."
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