The University of the Fraser Valley women's volleyball team earned its most impressive win of the season to date, finishing off the Camosun Chargers in three straight sets on Saturday afternoon at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre.
In an intriguing early-season match-up of nationally ranked teams, the CCAA No. 4 Chargers had drawn first blood with
a four-set triumph over the No. 7 Cascades on Friday night. But UFV bounced back to win the rematch 25-22, 25-22, 25-20. In the process they reclaimed second place in the PACWEST with a 5-3 record, just ahead of the Chargers (4-3).
"I'm really proud of the response that was generated from a disappointing level of play we put forth last night," Cascades head coach
Janelle Rozema said. "Our ball control was a lot better today, and our attackers did a better job of finishing plays. And our defence was better – we were digging more balls, and we were controlling them more for the most part.
"Today, we were just a little more comfortable in our competitive skin. Last night we were overthinking, and the hard pregame planning became more organic, more natural today because we'd seen them once live."
The Chargers grabbed the momentum in the opening set, scoring five straight points to build a 17-12 lead, highlighted by back-to-back aces from Katie Wayling. But the Cascades hung tough, and with the score 22-20 for Camosun, the hosts reeled off five straight points to close out the set.
Amanda Matsui and
Chelsea Kidd provided strong play at the net, and
Kristen McBride capped it off with a kill.
The Cascades carried that momentum into the second, building a 5-2 lead after
Sedona Arabsky secured a block and a kill in succession. Camosun battled back to level the score 15-15 on back-to-back aces from Hannah May, but UFV was a little sharper down the stretch and pulled away for a 25-22 win.
Both teams traded runs in the third, but with the score 20-19 UFV, the Cascades took three points in a row – highlighted by kills from
Alysha Cooper and McBride – to take a commanding lead and they would close it out from there.
The Cascades rode a balanced attack on Saturday, with Matsui (nine kills), Kidd (eight), Arabsky (seven) and McBride (five) all finishing plays offensively. McBride added a team-high 12 digs.
Sarah Brownlee (14 assists) and
Kara Williams (13 assists) shared the setting duties.
Mika Yamada's nine kills paced the Chargers, who struggled offensively, hitting .061 as a team.
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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