The University of the Fraser Valley women's volleyball team had its moments, but the U SPORTS No. 1-ranked Trinity Western Spartans ultimately pulled away for a three-set win on Friday evening at the Langley Events Centre.

The Cascades pushed the Spartans in the first two sets, only to watch the hosts take them both by scores of 25-23 and 25-20. TWU polished things off in the third, 25-11. 

UFV fell to 5-9 in Canada West play, while the West Division-leading Spartans improved to 13-1. 

"Our standard was just a little bit lower tonight," Cascades head coach Janelle Rozema analyzed. "It seemed like because we were trying to use a little more of our bench, we used that as an excuse to cut our standards in half. You're going to need to call on your bench at different times, and our standards have to stay the same, no matter what combination of athletes we have on the floor."

The Spartans seemed to pick up where they'd left off the previous night, building a 22-15 lead in the first set, but the Cascades rallied. Back-to-back kills followed by a block from rookie middle Ellie Sinclair got the visitors on track, and they would close to within 24-23 before an Avery Heppell kill gave the Spartans a 25-23 win.

?? WVB | The Cascades and Spartans are underway at the Langley Events Centre, and it's Sadie Wilson putting away a kill!#GoCascades pic.twitter.com/xC3rPdhOHC

— UFV Cascades (@UFVCascades) February 19, 2022

"We were sticking to our attack game-plan, and our attackers really used their depth of shots," Rozema said, reflecting on what her team did well during their first-set push. 

The second set played out along the same lines – TWU raced out to a 17-8 lead, but an Amanda Matsui service run drew the Cascades back to within 22-20. Their comeback ran out of gas at that point, as Heppell came up with a kill and a block to help the Spartans take it 25-20.

?? WVB | Amanda Matsui with the ace, but it's the Spartans pulling away to take the second set 25-20.@TWUSpartans 2@goUFV 0#GoCascades pic.twitter.com/nEQEVXphwK

— UFV Cascades (@UFVCascades) February 19, 2022

The Cascades struggled with errors in the third set, and the Spartans pulled away to close out the match. 

Sadie Wilson paced the Cascades with seven kills, Kinna Fisher posted 14 assists, and Emily Matsui's eight digs were a team-high.

Heppell registered 11 kills, and Annelise Hielema had eight for the Spartans.

Up next for the Cascades volleyball teams is a series with the UBC Okanagan Heat, running Sunday (men 4 p.m., women 6 p.m.) and Monday (men 1 p.m., women 3 p.m.) at the UFV Athletic Centre. Sunday's games feature pregame senior celebrations for Graham Walkey and Justin Peleshytyk of the men's team, and Amanda Matsui and Sadie Wilson of the women's squad.