Vancouver, BC - Nimo Benne led the UFV Cascades with 13 kills, but it was the UBC Thunderbirds who came out on top with a five-set victory (22-25, 27-25, 25-17, 22-25, 15-9) on Friday night.

The Cascades got off to a great start in the second Canada West season, grabbing a 13-10 lead in the first, and they held that advantage throughout the remainder of the set before finishing it off with a Benne kill, 25-22.

??? MVB | Nimo Benne crushes that one, and the Cascades take the first set 25-22! ??

??? @goufv 1@ubctbirds 0 pic.twitter.com/bIUhkZur9R
— UFV Cascades (@UFVCascades) October 22, 2022
 

UFV got off to a quick start in the second, jumping to a 5-1 lead, but the Thunderbirds picked away at that lead to level it at 22. With the Cascades down 23-22, a Benne kill and a Ryan Adams ace, gave them a chance at set point, but UBC would fight it off and pick up four of the next five points to snag a 27-25 set win.

UBC hopped out to a 14-8 advantage in the third, and they would carry that forward to take it 25-17.

The teams traded blows in the fourth, but UFV clawed out a 22-18 lead thanks in part to a timely ace from Ryan Hampe, and they would close it out 25-22 on yet another final kill from Benne.

Timely ace from Ryan Hampe in the 4th set, and the Cascades go on to take it 25-22! ??

Fifth set incoming!

??? @goufv 2@ubctbirds 2#weclimbweconquer pic.twitter.com/UwtB0Wergo
— UFV Cascades (@UFVCascades) October 22, 2022
 

UBC took control in the fifth, as Matt Neaves picked up six kills, and added a service ace on the way to a 15-9 win.

"Tonight, they were a more experienced team that took care of the fine details," UFV bench boss Nathan Bennett said of UBC.

"I thought all our players played well today, it's just the finer details that we need to take care of."

In addition to leading UFV in kills with 13, Benne posted a team leading nine digs in the match, while Ryan Adams claimed 11 kills, and Jonas Van Huizen added 37 assists.

Neaves paved the way for UBC on the night with game-highs in both kills (27) and aces (8). Mason Greves added 49 set assists for the Thunderbirds.

The Cascades get another crack at UBC on Saturday. The rematch is scheduled for 6:45pm in Vancouver, and you can catch all the action live over on canadawest.tv.