The University of the Fraser Valley men's volleyball team dropped a straight-sets decision to the Vancouver Island University Mariners on Saturday afternoon at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre.

The CCAA No. 6-ranked Mariners had rallied for a four-set win the night before, and they continued that momentum in the rematch, prevailing by set scores of 25-16, 25-23 and 25-13. VIU improved to 10-4 in PACWEST play while the Cascades fell to 5-12.

"We played a pretty good first set, had a big lead in the second," Cascades head coach Nathan Bennett noted afterward. "I've found there are teams in this league and players in this league who are quote-unquote better than us, but when we lose games, it's not because we're outmatched. It's because of things that we do on our side. That's been the story of our season."

The teams traded blows early in the first set, but with the scoreboard reading 16-15 for the Mariners, the visitors would rattle off nine of the next 10 points to seal the opening set 25-16.

The Cascades grabbed a 15-10 lead in the second, bolstered by six Caleb Kastelein kills in the early going. The Mariners, however, cut the deficit to 20-18, and a subsequent four-point service run by Karsten Nielsen-Roine lifted them to a 22-20 advantage they would not relinquish.

The Mariners scampered to a quick 8-1 lead in the third, and a pair of Adam Kapteyn aces helped extend their lead to 12-2. The teams traded points throughout the middle portion of the set, but VIU would make no mistake, closing out the match 25-13.

Kastelein led the Cascades with eight kills and seven digs, while Landon Uy posted five kills and six digs of his own.

Jeff Webb paced the Mariners with 10 kills, while Dario De Queiroz-Pereira had eight. Kapteyn dropped four aces on the night.

The Cascades now head into the bye week, before traveling to Victoria to face the Camosun Chargers in two weeks' time.