Abbotsford, BC – Nimo Benne hammered home six service aces as the UFV Cascades took down the Saskatchewan Huskies in four sets (25-20, 25-23, 21-25, 25-20) for their first home win of the season on Friday.
A pair of early runs in the first set gave the Cascades a 16-9 lead, and despite some late pressure from the Huskies UFV took it 25-20.
Saskatchewan built a 16-10 lead in the second, but kills from Ryan Adams, Jonas Van Huizen, and Benne helped them level the score at 17. The teams traded points, but with the score 22-21 for the Huskies, UFV would pick up four of the next five points to finish it 25-23.
The Huskies edged out a 13-10 lead in the third, after a pair of kills from Jack McGeough and an ace from Jake Rapin on their way to a 25-21 set win.
Benne's serve proved crucial in the fourth set, as the outside hitter notched four aces in the early part of the frame. The teams battled to a 20-20 score line, but it was the Cascades who would snatch victory scoring the final five points to close it out 25-20.
"We prepped really hard for this game. We knew we had a chance, and it just feels really good to get it done" noted Benne post game.
Benne had a team-high 14 kills to go with his six aces on the night, while Ryan Hampe tallied six blocks, and Jonas Van Huizen notched 29 assists and 11 digs.
"Our service pressure is part of our whole team structure. Nimo is a part of that, and he's done a good job for us with that so far" explained UFV head coach
Nathan Bennett. "We also have Ryan Adams, Jonas, Ryan Hampe, so we are putting service pressure on guys at all times".
Dylan Mortensen paced the Huskies with a game-high 17 kills, while McGeough had nine, and Quinn Buchanan had eight.
The two teams face off again on Saturday at 5 p.m. at the UFV Athletic Centre. You can also catch all the action live on canadawest.tv.
