The University of the Fraser Valley men's volleyball team fell in straight sets to the Capilano Blues on Friday at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre.

The CCAA No. 5-ranked Blues closed out a sweep of the season series via set scores of 25-11, 25-19 and 26-24. With the victory Capilano sees its record improve to 16-4, while the Cascades fall to 5-15 in conference play.

"Right now it's a little bit of a broken record – we start slow and then we get in the match, but time runs out," Cascades head coach Nathan Bennett said. "We've got to definitely do a better job right at the beginning of the match.

"Over this month we took some breaks, took some rest . . . I'm hoping we'd be a little more fresh to start these sets, so it's a little bit disappointing. But at the end of the day, it's a good finish (in the third set), and it's something for us to build on as we go into February."

???? | Cascades head coach @ntbennett6 on his team's effort tonight, and what they have to do moving on to a tough road trip next week. pic.twitter.com/nzv9OSu8cR

— UFV Cascades (@UFVCascades) February 1, 2020

The visitors came out flying in the first, building an 11-4 lead early on and extending it to 17-5 after a five-serve run by Leonard Tesarik. The Blues kept rolling from there, finishing it off 25-11.

Capilano continued its momentum into the second, going up 10-4, but the Cascades fought to cut the deficit to 11-10. However, the Blues regained control after a pair of kills by Jacob Hopkins to lead 18-13. Despite a push-back from UFV, Capilano secured four of the last six points, closing it out 25-19 on another Hopkins kill.

Once again, the Blues took a commanding lead in the third, going up 8-3. The Cascades battled back, getting a pair of kills from Landon Uy and three from Caleb Kastelein to take a 12-11 lead. However, with the score 15-13 for the Cascades, Capilano would score four straight points to regain the advantage. The teams would find themselves even at 23 after the Cascades secured a resounding kill from Jackson Obst and a block from Justin Peleshytyk. A Kastelein kill gave the Cascades a chance at set point, but the Blues knocked down the final three points to close out the match 26-24.

Kastelein paced the Cascades with 10 kills on the night, while Landon Uy notched five. Setter Graham Walkey posted 19 assists and a team-high six digs.

Ben Friesen led the way for the Blues with 12 kills, while Hopkins and Rafael Hilario each picked up nine.

The Cascades volleyball teams are on the road next week, facing the College of the Rockies Avalanche in Cranbrook.