The University of the Fraser Valley men's volleyball team upset a shorthanded Camosun Chargers squad on Saturday afternoon, prevailing in four sets at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre.
The Chargers came into the weekend ranked No. 2 in the nation and had
knocked off the Cascades in four sets on Friday, but the UFV squad was able to bounce back in the rematch by scores of 25-22, 21-25, 26-24, and 25-22.
Both teams, it should be noted, were missing key players. UFV's
Landon Uy and Camosun's Vitor Pereira sat out the entire weekend due to injury, and the Chargers' Eduardo Bida missed Saturday's game after suffering a hand injury in the late stages on Friday.
The result evened the Cascades' record at 4-4, while the Chargers fell to 5-2.
"They're a wounded animal, and we need to pounce on that," Cascades head coach
Nathan Bennett noted. "Right now, that's a team that's missing two of the best players in the league, maybe even the country. We had an opportunity tonight. It was back and forth, and we didn't take advantage of some things that we should have, but at the end of the day we came out with a W."
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The Cascades saw a 19-17 lead in the opening set disappear, as Camosun evened the score at 20 apiece. However, UFV was unfazed as
Justin Peleshytyk would secure three kills in the late stages, allowing his team to seal it 25-22.
The Chargers started the second strong, building a 7-5 lead, before extending it to 15-10 and finishing it off 25-21.
The Cascades leapt out to a 7-2 lead in the third with
Shubdeep Wander hammering three kills, but the Chargers fought back with aces from Morgan Humphreys and Mitchell Whittla to draw even at 15. UFV took the next four points to regain the lead, but it was short lived, as Camosun would claw their way back to go up 24-23. However, it would not be enough to put the Cascades away, as they would grab the final three points capped by another Pelesytyk kill, 26-24.
In the fourth, a pair of kills from Peleshytyk midway through the set followed by back-to-back kills from Wander would vault the Cascades to a 17-13 lead. Camosun chipped away and grabbed a 21-20 lead on consecutive service aces from Graham Basi, but the Cascades would secure five of the last six points, including a kill by Peleshytyk and an ace by
Graham Walkey, to close out the match 25-22.
Wander racked up a game-high 17 kills for the Cascades, and Peleshytyk and
Caleb Kastelein finished with 11 and nine, respectively. Setter Walkey had 38 assists and a team-best nine digs.
Humphreys and Whittla led the way for the Chargers with 11 and 10 kills, respectively.
The Cascades volleyball teams are back in action next week with a home-and-home series vs. the Capilano Blues. Friday's games are at the EFAC (women 6 p.m., men 8 p.m.), and Saturday's games are at Capilano's North Vancouver campus (women 5 p.m., men 7 p.m.).
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