The University of the Fraser Valley men's volleyball team battled hard but fell achingly short on Friday in Cranbrook, dropping a three-set decision to the College of the Rockies Avalanche.

All three sets were decided by the minimum two points and went beyond the 25-point threshold, but it was the Avalanche (7-16) edging the Cascades (5-16) by scores of 26-24, 34-32, 26-24.

Despite the loss, the UFV squad clinched a PACWEST playoff spot by virtue of the fact the Columbia Bible College Bearcats – the team chasing them for the sixth and final conference berth – dropped a five-set decision to the Douglas Royals on Friday.

"Even though we lost 3-0, I'm really happy with the way the guys played," Cascades head coach Nathan Bennett said. "They showed a great battle level. We've been talking about it for a few months, and they really showed up to play today, especially when we were down big in the third. In the past, we probably would have rolled over. But tonight they fought and they battled hard all the way through, which was really, really nice to see."

In the opening set, the two teams found themselves level at 19-19, but back-to-back kills by Carter Brodner helped stake the Avalanche to a 23-19 lead. The Cascades stormed back, getting consecutive service aces from Landon Uy on their way to tying it 23-23. However, COTR gained a 25-24 advantage and they made no mistake as Vittor Mateus would close it out with an ace.

UFV and COTR traded points in the second, but it was the Avalanche who grabbed a late 24-22 lead. The Cascades secured a kill by Uy and an ace by Dylan Neudorf to pull them level on 24. The two teams struggled to control the momentum late in the set, but with the score 32 apiece, a kill by Brodner and a block by Jordan Simpson pushed the Avalanche over the edge, 34-32.

The third was again tightly contested, but with the score tied 8-8 the Avalanche knocked down eight of the following nine points to grab a 16-9 advantage. COTR held onto that six-point margin through the middle portion of the set, but with the score 22-16 UFV would go on a run of their own. They racked up eight of the following 10 points to erase the deficit and draw level, 24-24. It was not enough for the Cascades on this night, however, as COTR secured kills by Brodner and Hudson Goertz to close out the match 26-24.

"Volleyball is a game of creating an opportunity to score a point, and when that opportunity comes, you have to make sure you execute," Bennett said, reflecting on the razor-thin margin for error that tilted the balance COTR's way on Friday. "That's what I'm hoping tomorrow we'll see a little bit more of."

Uy hammered home a match-high 16 kills for the Cascades, while Caleb Kastelein notched 12 of his own on a .409 hitting percentage.

Quinn Grist led the way for the Avalanche with 13 kills, and Brodner had 12.

The Cascades volleyball teams are back in action Saturday afternoon to conclude the weekend series (women 12 p.m., men 2 p.m. Pacific time, pacwestbc.tv).