The University of the Fraser Valley women's volleyball team showed day-to-day growth over their first weekend of Canada West competition, but it wasn't enough to secure a victory as the UBC Okanagan Heat fended them off in four sets on Saturday afternoon.
The Cascades, coming offÂ
a three-set loss on Friday and missing star left side
Amanda Matsui due to injury, turned in a solid performance in the rematch and claimed their first set win in CW conference play. But it was the Heat ultimately turning them aside by set scores of 25-19, 25-22, 20-25, 25-22.
The UFV squad (0-2) is back in action on the road next weekend, facing the UBC Thunderbirds in a Friday-Saturday set.
"There were a couple times we made mistakes at the wrong time of the game, but we also had some moments where we did the things well at crucial moments," Cascades head coach
Janelle Rozema noted afterward.
"We're trying not to be cheesy, but we're following the We Climb, We Conquer mantra. We've climbed, but we haven't conquered. We definitely celebrated winning our first set tonight, but we're disappointed not to have gotten our first win.
"Definitely controlling things on our side of the net and scoring points at key moments of the game is something we're still working on."
The Cascades were in the first set until the very end, when the Heat put together three points in a row to go from 21-18 to 24-18, and they would wrap it up 25-19.
UFV excelled early in the second, building a 7-3 advantage, but the hosts found traction at that point and rallied to take the lead at the midway point of the set, and they kept the Cascades at bay from there.
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In similar fashion, UFV controlled the early portion of the third set, going up 7-2 with middle
Mo Likness picking up a pair of emphatic kills during that stretch. But this time, they maintained control, winning comfortably thanks to effective blocking and some big swings from right side
Sadie Wilson. For the set, UFV hit a scorching .344.
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"We really cut back on our unforced errors, and we played a really nice balance of physical when we needed to be physical, and patient when we need to be patient (on the attack)," Rozema said, reflecting on that third set. "We were willing to play longer rallies, and at times it resulted in us scoring points, and at others it resulted in the other team making an error. It really paid off for us."
The UFV squad continued to push in the fourth, but the Heat were able to claw out a 25-22 win to close the match.
Wilson and
Kristen McBride tied for team-high honours with 11 kills apiece, and Wilson hit a team-best .296.
Grace Warkentin and Likness added seven and six kills, respectively, and
Cailin Bitter finished with 12 set assists. McBride racked up 14 digs, and libero
Emily Matsui had 10.
Sydney Grills, with 18 kills, paced four Heat players in double digits, and setter Sara McCreary had 25 assists and a game-high 20 digs.
Afterward, Rozema noted the impact, in
Amanda Matsui's absence, of fourth-year veteran Wilson's leadership on Saturday.
"I'd say all three outside hitters (played well), but Sadie particularly," Rozema said. "We talked about when an injury happens, another head has to pop up. It was cool to see Sadie pop up on the right side and score some points. Making UBCO think about something different was helpful, for sure."
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