Abbotsford, BC – The UFV Cascades knocked off the Mount Royal Cougars in four-sets on Saturday afternoon at the UFV Athletic Centre. UFV prevailed by set scores of 25-23, 25-19, 22-25, and 25-19 to improve to 5-5 on the season, while MRU falls to 6-4 this year.

The Cascades were bolstered by a strong defensive effort, as five UFV players managed to register blocks in the match. This effort was led by Mo Likness with five blocks, and Cailin Bitter with four, while Natalie Lemoine-Sells and Alicja Hardy-Francis each had three.

"They are a very aggressive and hard-hitting team, so we knew we were going to have to be strong at the net," explained Lemoine-Sells after the game. "We worked a lot this week to figure out when we were going to go up and what seams we were going to be taking — just a lot of emphasis on that"

With the score 17 apiece in the opening set, the Cascades took control to grab a 24-19 lead. MRU pushed to catch up, pulling the score back to 24-23, but a block by Likness and Bitter gave the Cascades the 25-23 set win.

Down 12-11 in the second, Hardy-Francis made a big impact, picking up three consecutive kills, and a block to help the Cascades to an 18-12 advantage before taking the set 25-19.

Mount Royal jumped out to early leads of 7-3 and 11-5 in the fourth, but a five-serve run from Hardy-Francis drew them back to level at 17 apiece. However, with the score now 21 all, Mount Royal scored four of the next five points to extend the match with a 25-22 victory.

UFV took control again early in the fourth, as they jumped out to leads of 9-4, and 12-6, before extending the advantage to 22-14, and closing out the match 25-19 on the back of a Lemoine-Sells kill.

Haley Roe had a game-high 24 kills for the Cougars, while Quinn Pelland posted 41 assists, and Sarah McKillican had 26 digs.

Gabrielle Attieh paced the Cascades with 20 kills and 19 digs on the night, while Lemoine-Sells notched 11 kills and 17 digs, and Bitter added 32 assists.

The Cascades next action is a trip to the University of Alberta next Friday and Saturday to conclude their fall semester schedule, before returning to home court in January. Meanwhile MRU hosts the University of Manitoba next week.

"This win is one we were all so excited for," noted Lemoine-Sells. "So much was left on the floor, so we're going to pick that right back up when we get back on our home court."