Friday, Nov. 12: Cascades (0-2, T-4th in West Division) at UBC Thunderbirds (0-0, 3rd in West Division), 6 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 13: Cascades at Thunderbirds, 5 p.m.
War Memorial Gym / Vancouver, B.C.
Webcast: CanadaWest.tv presented by Co-op

THE MATCH-UP

The Cascades' second weekend of Canada West play comes against the most decorated program in U SPORTS women's volleyball history. The Thunderbirds have won 12 national titles, including the one most recently awarded, in 2019.

UFV and UBC have a certain amount of familiarity with one another, having engaged in a split-squad scrimmage at UBC on Oct. 1.

RECENT FORM

The Cascades opened CW conference play last weekend at UBC Okanagan, falling in three sets on Friday and in four on Saturday.

It will be home-opening weekend for the Thunderbirds, who are coming off a Week 1 bye. UBC posted a 2-1 record in the preseason.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Sadie Wilson, UFV – Wilson lifted the Cascades vs. UBCO with her leadership and her aggressive swings from the right side. The fourth-year from Vancouver tied with teammate Kristen McBride in total kills (15) and kills per set (2.14) through one week of play.

Jayde Robertson, UBC – The 6'2" middle is outstanding at the net, having averaged 0.86 blocks per set in 2019-20, and efficient on the attack, hitting .219.

QUOTABLE

"Last weekend, we definitely learned how much depth we have on our team. Losing Amanda (Matsui, UFV left side, due to injury), we had a lot of people stepping up and providing leadership, which was amazing. Kristen (McBride) and Grace (Warkentin) did an amazing job on the left side. Going into this weekend, we're definitely excited. UBC is going to be a really tough opponent, but we play our best against top-level teams. I think we're definitely going to rise to the challenge and push them." ­– Cascades libero Stephanie Demeules

"When we scrimmaged UBC, we played really, really well. We know that they're really good when they're out of system. A lot of teams will end up free-balling balls over the net, but instead they're going to be coming back with something better than we're used to. We know we have to be prepared to dig everything, get gritty, and come back at them fast." – Demeules, on the Thunderbirds