Abbotsford, BC - Lauren Attieh was dominant all match as she led the UFV Cascades to a five-set comeback victory over the Saskatchewan Huskies on Friday night.
The Cascades dropped the first two sets, before storming back to take it by scores of 21-25, 18-25, 25-13, 25-16, and 15-9. The win is the Cascades first of the year, moving their record to 1-4, while the Huskies fall to 2-3.
With the score level at 18 in the first, a side out and a four-serve run from Olivia Mattern gave Saskatchewan a 23-18 advantage on the way to a 25-21 set win.
The Huskies built up a 7-2 lead in the second, before extending it to 20-12 following a three-serve run from Mattern, and they made no mistake closing it out 25-18 on a kill by Mandi Fraser.
The Cascades held a 15-12 lead in the third, but they would take over from there. Three kills from
Kristen McBride, and a pair from Lauren Attieh helped as UFV scored 10 of the next 11 points to take the set 25-13.
UFV continued their strong play in the fourth as sisters Gabrielle and Lauren Attieh combined for 11 kills in the set. With the Cascades up 18-16, a service error from the Huskies put the ball in Lauren Attieh's hands, who would serve out the frame for UFV as they took it 25-16.
The Cascades grabbed a 10- 6 lead in the fifth and Lauren Attieh continued her strong play, knocking down three kills down the strectch before capping off the match with an ace to take it 15-9.
"It feels so good — we've been waiting for a game like this all season," noted Cascades outside hitter Lauren Attieh post game.
Lauren Attieh notched a game-high 28 kills in the match, as well as two aces and 20 digs. Gabrielle Attieh added 15 kills and 18 digs of her own, while Emily Matsui provided 21 digs.
"It feels awesome, but it's not a reflection of anything I'm doing," Lauren Attieh noted on her big offensive night.
"It says more about my team and the people I have supporting me on the court, on the bench, and the support staff, so I'm just thankful to be given the opportunity and I hope I can keep doing it for my team."
Devyn Ethier paced the Huskies with 11 kills on the day, while Julia Howell Bourner added 10 kills and three aces in the effort.
The two teams are back in action on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. for the rematch at the UFV Athletic Centre. You can also catch all the action live on canadawest.tv.
